Petrus vindt een munt in de bek van een vis 1689 - 1720

Curator: We're looking at an engraving by Salomon Savery, dating from around 1689 to 1720, called "Petrus vindt een munt in de bek van een vis" which translates to "Peter finds a coin in the mouth of a fish." It's currently held at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Immediately, it strikes me as a world captured in monochrome stillness, an eternal scene rendered in countless tiny lines. It gives a sort of reverent quiet. Curator: The etching and engraving processes themselves are so interesting. Savery meticulously carved these lines into a metal plate, building up the image layer by layer. It's almost like an early form of mechanical reproduction of narratives, making Biblical stories accessible. Think of the sheer labor involved! Editor: It is extraordinary to consider the craft. Beyond just religious communication, these kinds of pieces also hint at this interesting intersection between labour, belief, and maybe even burgeoning capitalism. All that focused energy spent replicating the divine… it does make me ponder the economics within art and faith, honestly. Curator: It certainly lends the work an interesting dual focus, if we accept that perspective, though it reads as quite straight forward narrative at first glance. Peter, visibly confused and possibly even a little grossed out, finds the coin. A solution to the taxation troubles, handed to him right out of the mouth of nature. The details are astounding given the process - from the scales of the fish to the worried faces of his companions. It almost makes me giggle, the drama over what's essentially spare change! Editor: Exactly! And all those layers of cross-hatching—that intensive application—elevates, dare I say, a work about the miracle of tax payment! These historical prints are physical manifestations of both deep belief and human exertion, aren't they? I like thinking of these as a kind of social accounting that isn't recorded anywhere but rendered right on the plate itself. Curator: So, here we are, standing before an etching made centuries ago. It still manages to spark multiple different kinds of reflections in both of us. It's powerful stuff, even now. Editor: Indeed! It has certainly revealed interesting tensions, that space where the miraculous meets the workaday and artistic creation itself becomes a kind of testament of value.