Hermit in Meditation c. 18th century

Editor: So, here we have "Hermit in Meditation" by Ferdinand Kobell. Look at those meticulously etched lines! I find it a bit… well, gloomy, maybe? What do you see in it? Curator: Gloomy, perhaps, but also sublime. Notice how the hermit is dwarfed by the grandeur of nature. It's a visual poem about finding solace and insignificance, all tangled up together, isn't it? A kind of 18th-century "forest bathing," if you will, with a healthy dose of existential pondering! Editor: Forest bathing and existential pondering. I like that! Curator: Me too! And I think Kobell might have as well! It makes me wonder, though, what kind of conversations were being had, quietly under the trees, at the time? Editor: I never thought about it that way. Thanks for opening my eyes…and ears!