Aedificare Super Arenam, from "Allegories of the Christian Faith, from Christian and Profane Allegories" 1575 - 1617

Curator: Well, hello! Let's gather around Hendrick Goltzius' engraving, "Aedificare Super Arenam," which roughly translates to "Building Upon Sand." It's part of a series called "Allegories of the Christian Faith," created sometime between 1575 and 1617. What are your initial thoughts on this visually busy piece? Editor: Honestly? Chaos. It's like a biblical storm hit a Renaissance architectural convention. There are figures everywhere, bits of buildings collapsing… It feels very…precarious. I suppose that’s the point? Curator: Exactly! Goltzius is visually representing the parable from Matthew about the wise man who builds his house upon a rock and the foolish one who builds on sand. The impending doom of the latter, of course. Editor: So, these aren't just random people? Who are the figures hovering above, those winged cherubs tossing what look like little skulls around? And what’s with the mirror someone’s holding? Curator: Those cherubs represent Vanity and Transience, which undermine any earthly foundation that the foolish build their lives and aspirations on. The mirror would have symbolized worldly pleasures and self-absorption in Goltzius' time, distracting from more lasting foundations. Editor: Ah, it’s a morality play frozen in ink. The nudes contribute to that slightly uncomfortable feeling of exposure—both literal and figurative. Everyone's about to be caught out. And it does make you consider what really lasts beyond our brief moment. Is the foundation of what we do at this museum more like a rock or like sand? Curator: That's the eternal question, isn't it? Perhaps artworks such as this function as these reminders. I always find Goltzius' technical skill impressive. Editor: Absolutely. He crams so much into this relatively small space and all those little textual boxes around the perimeter. The intricacy almost overwhelms, echoing, I guess, the folly of misplaced effort and the importance of a solid base.