Overtocht over de Jordaan 1720 - 1728

This is Cornelis Huyberts’s ‘Overtocht over de Jordaan’, made using etching techniques sometime between 1669 and 1712. The composition, busy with figures, draws you in with its intricate detailing. The landscape is divided into three horizontal zones: the foreground depicts the Israelites in motion, the midground shows the mass of people wading through the Jordan, and the background is the distant Promised Land, a somewhat hazy horizon. Huyberts uses the line to create depth and movement, with figures rendered in detailed cross-hatching to give the image a rich texture. This etching technique and use of hatching, a very characteristic method in printmaking, creates contrasts that model the forms and the narrative. Structurally, the composition mimics the narrative of transition and aspiration. It reflects a journey towards transformation and is less about an actual crossing than the human drama. Here, line and form communicate a larger theological narrative.