Bileam en zijn ezel c. 1550 - 1650

Curator: This image at the Rijksmuseum, created by an anonymous artist sometime between 1550 and 1650, is titled "Bileam en zijn ezel"—or, in English, "Balaam and his Donkey". It's an engraving rendered in ink. Editor: What a peculiar little drama playing out in a surprisingly bucolic scene. The scratchy lines create an ethereal, almost unsettling mood. Are we meant to feel comforted or challenged by this landscape? Curator: Given the biblical narrative depicted, I’d say it's definitely meant to be a challenge! The scene illustrates the story of Balaam, a prophet, and his donkey, from the Book of Numbers. God sends an angel to block Balaam's path. Only the donkey can see the angel, and she tries to avoid it, much to Balaam's frustration. Editor: Interesting. Look at how the artist emphasizes the texture of the landscape – the gnarled roots of the trees, the uneven ground. The landscape itself feels like a participant in this divine comedy. What sort of labor and tools were involved? It has this distinctly reproductive, craft-like appearance that pushes against notions of the "genius" artist. Curator: Exactly! Engravings like these were often reproduced and disseminated widely. It brought religious narratives and landscapes into homes, creating a shared visual culture, crafted by unseen artisans who painstakingly translated a story onto a copper plate. Editor: I love how this ordinary donkey is given such an important role, subverting any classical tradition! It really centers the production aspect - a humble, working animal mediating the divine and human realms. And speaking of the human realm, the landscape isn't just pretty scenery. Look closer. Those people, houses and plowed fields are what the biblical "promise land" was about. Curator: Precisely! It makes me consider the silent stories all around us, the quiet epiphanies happening to beasts of burden on mundane journeys. It is a divine reminder, a visual whisper etched in ink that perhaps the greatest wisdom arrives on four legs, stubborn and unwilling to proceed. Editor: Yes! An artisanal rendering where labor, religion and landscape convene and create, quite literally, something greater than the sum of their parts! It causes one to reflect about the very foundations upon which our cultural imaginaries are created.