Christus door de engelen bediend 1783

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki made this print, Christus door de engelen bediend, sometime in the 18th century using etching. Religious imagery like this one had always been a tool for social cohesion in Europe, particularly when linked to powerful institutions like the Church. But by the late 1700s, during the Enlightenment, that was changing. Art became a way to question authority and think about new social structures. Chodowiecki was working in Prussia, which, under Frederick the Great, was becoming a center for these new ideas. This print participates in a wider cultural interest in devotional images during a period of increasingly secular thought. Consider the way that printmaking itself changed how people saw art. It made images more accessible and affordable, so art wasn't just for the elite anymore. If you want to delve deeper, think about looking at the artist's other works and the wider social and intellectual environment of 18th-century Prussia. That's how we can really understand the impact this image had.