Apostel Paulus verdrijft een boze geest uit de dienstmaagd 1697

This engraving depicts Saint Paul expelling a demon from a possessed servant girl. It was produced by an anonymous artist, and is now held at the Rijksmuseum. Prints like these, common in the early modern period, played a crucial role in disseminating religious and moral narratives to a wide audience. The choice to depict this specific scene from the Acts of the Apostles speaks to the period’s preoccupation with the battle between good and evil, often visualized through the spectacle of exorcism. The image’s composition, with its dramatic gestures and classical architectural backdrop, employs visual codes that would have been readily understood by its contemporary audience. To fully understand this image, we might consult period theological texts, popular literature, and social histories. The meaning of this print is contingent on the complex interplay of religious belief, social anxieties, and artistic conventions of its time.