Maria met kind onder een palmboom 1850s

Editor: So, here we have an engraving, a print really, from the 1850s, called *Maria met kind onder een palmboom*, or *Mary with child under a palm tree* by Erich Correns. There’s this hazy, romantic feel to the whole piece. What leaps out at you when you look at this, if anything at all? Curator: Oh, I love how this work makes you feel the stillness in the air, you know? Correns wasn't just sketching Mary and baby Jesus chilling under a palm tree; he's plucking at heartstrings here. I mean, the Romanticism influence is clear, it has that dramatic and idealized sensibility that Romanticism adores. There’s that tension and softness and a feeling for… forever. Editor: The ‘forever’ of motherhood? Curator: Totally. The composition places them sheltered in the cradle of nature itself – it really gives a sense of peace. A very cultivated peace, I feel like this wasn't meant to picture any random mom and babe looking for shelter. There's meaning layered into everything, down to how those lithographic strokes seem to yearn. Correns even suggests paradise itself might be that space that holds these two so closely. It feels intentional, doesn’t it? Like a snapshot from inside a beautiful dream about safety. Editor: Yes, intentional – that is definitely the right word here. So it's this mix of tenderness and also that deliberate setting and styling that gives it this ‘untouchable’ vibe. Almost like they're models acting in a landscape... interesting. Curator: Exactly! So you see how technique can become another layer of meaning altogether, right? And these meanings work together. Editor: Yes, yes it makes sense. So I come away seeing Romanticism using a mother-child scene to portray paradise. Curator: And now I’m looking and understanding this better because of our chat too. Cool.