Landskab med to ryttere 1671 - 1690

"Landskab med to ryttere" is an etching made by Johanna Sibylla Küsel sometime between 1660 and 1717. Küsel worked in Augsburg, a hub of artistic exchange during the Baroque period. As a woman artist in 17th-century Europe, Küsel navigated a professional landscape largely dominated by men. While her father, Melchior Küsel, was an established engraver who trained her, her gender would have placed constraints on her access to formal artistic education and patronage networks. This image presents an idealised, pastoral scene. Two riders pause amidst grazing animals; their elevated position suggests a vantage point over the land, a symbol of power and control. But look closer and you'll see that the riders are not alone in the landscape. They share it with shepherds and their flocks, which infuses the image with a sense of shared space, a sense of coexistence. Küsel, through her detailed etching, develops an alternative narrative that acknowledges the interconnectedness of people and nature. She invites us to consider the layered relationships between humans and the environment.