God de Vader en de Heilige Geest 1618 - 1655

This print of God the Father and the Holy Spirit was made by Cornelis Schut in the 17th century. It depicts God the Father as an old man with a long beard, surrounded by angels, with the Holy Spirit as a dove beneath him. Images of the Holy Trinity, like this one, were widespread in the 17th century. Cornelis Schut was working in Antwerp during the Counter-Reformation, when the Catholic Church was trying to revive itself after the rise of Protestantism. Art was one of the tools the Church used to reassert its authority. Religious images were meant to inspire awe and reverence in viewers, and to remind them of the power and glory of God. As historians, we can look at the image in relation to the religious and political context in which it was made. This print is not just a picture, but a piece of evidence about the cultural and institutional history of 17th-century Europe.