Heilige Barbara met toren en zwaard 1623 - 1660

Curator: Isn't this a striking print? It's entitled "Heilige Barbara met toren en zwaard," or Saint Barbara with tower and sword, made sometime between 1623 and 1660, by Pieter de Bailliu. Editor: Immediately, what strikes me is the calm confidence in her gaze. She's holding potent symbols - the tower, almost phallic, and a very real-looking sword - but her expression is serene. There's power there, but it's internalized, held with grace. Curator: Absolutely. The tower is Saint Barbara's most recognizable attribute, referencing her imprisonment. Legend says her father locked her in a tower to protect her from suitors and, crucially, from Christian influences. Ironically, it was in the tower that she secretly converted. Editor: And the sword, the instrument of her martyrdom. A truly chilling combination, confinement and violence. I find the shine of the clothing beautifully offsetting the stark themes here, a kind of softening of a terrible narrative, like historical amnesia, and it's very cleverly achieved. Do you find it successful? Curator: I think the contrast is deliberate. The Baroque loved dramatic tension. The lustrous folds of her gown contrast sharply with the hard, cold steel of the sword. Her opulent dress signifies her noble lineage, yes, but it might also represent the superficial worldly things she ultimately rejected for her faith. I think Bailliu masterfully uses light and shadow in this engraving to highlight those internal and external struggles. Editor: Mmm, you make a convincing case for the Baroque sensibilities there, particularly the internal/external struggles that it represented so well through imagery. Even the halo isn’t traditionally beatific, the spiky, etching-like rays seem more like some kind of force field, almost threatening, than divine benevolence. Curator: True, it has that more rigid style than others I have seen. Thinking about it all again, what an inspiring and resilient figure - and Bailliu's portrait captures that so well, making it much more than just an exercise in religious iconography. Editor: Indeed. After digging into the historical and artful nuances, one is left struck by the depth with which such stories of iconoclastic rebellion can move one and remind us, still, of their force and agency.