Embleem met verering van Heilige Franciscus van Assisi die in deugd leefde 1620

Editor: This is an engraving from 1620 by Boëtius Adamsz. Bolswert, currently housed at the Rijksmuseum. The title is "Embleem met verering van Heilige Franciscus van Assisi die in deugd leefde," which translates to "Emblem with veneration of Saint Francis of Assisi who lived in virtue." It strikes me as quite busy, a lot is going on in a small space! How do you interpret this work? Curator: Ah, yes, a dense little universe! What leaps out at me is the *storytelling.* It's not just a portrait, is it? It's an unfolding drama. Look how Bolswert weaves together earthly scenes with the divine. It reminds me of a medieval tapestry where different moments in time co-exist in one frame. Do you see how St. Francis is being crowned by two figures and a winged spirit and is simultanesouly surrounded by everyday scenes like the altar in a temple or a humble shack? The artist is presenting a hagiography, which tells the story of the life and deeds of the saint in a series of images within one pictorial field. Editor: That’s a helpful connection, a tapestry. So each section tells its own bit of the tale… But what’s with the heart in the middle? Curator: Excellent question. That central heart—it pulsates with meaning! In my mind it visually binds together everything in the image, the earthly scenes and God, and speaks about the life, sacrifice, love, and pain, of St. Francis. What do you make of it? Editor: I think I agree, because the arrows are like pathways leading up from the heart. That pulls it all together a little more for me. Curator: Exactly. It is like the source that feeds it all! These Baroque artists, they didn't shy away from cramming their work full of symbols. Each one invites us to look deeper, and invites conversation. Editor: Well, I certainly feel like I understand how everything in the engraving connects a lot more now. It went from just a busy image to something that feels almost holistic.