Landschap met schapen 1860 - 1892

Editor: So this is "Landscape with Sheep" by Jan Vrolijk, made sometime between 1860 and 1892. It's a print, an etching actually, and it feels very grounded. A shepherd is watching his flock next to the river under a large, expressive sky. It is a black and white etching. How do you interpret the symbolism present within the art? Curator: The imagery of sheep is powerfully resonant. Throughout art history, from religious paintings to pastoral scenes, sheep often represent innocence, gentleness, and followership. The shepherd figure here is also interesting. It brings forth questions around who has responsibility for safety and control. Is the landscape sheltering or exposed, threatening, or abundant? It evokes safety within constraint and could echo the tensions of community. What visual cues do you pick up on in your first impression of that relationship? Editor: Well, the shepherd does seem to be at the very edge of the frame, and almost seems to be hiding from the open scene of the field and flock in the dark grassy edge of the image. But if the flock is grazing safely and calmly, the relationship may be that they are self-managed, but protected. The question is, from what does it need protecting? Curator: Exactly! The artist invites this questioning through visual structure, tone and subject, tapping into deep-seated anxieties and beliefs about human's relation to one another and to the natural world. Look at the shadows in the landscape. Light and dark are visually linked to psychological states, memory, and ways we experience the world. In a cultural context, the role of the church minister and father were historically seen as a symbolic Sheppard and in a broader psychological landscape. What are your impressions? Editor: That's so interesting! I didn’t initially pick up on such a range of symbolic meanings. The visual cues do provide such insights into cultural meanings. I'll never look at sheep the same way again. Curator: Nor I! The layering of cultural memory and psychological symbols is never finite, always expanding and reflective of the moment in which one experiences it.