Miraculous Draught of Fish
Original title: Miraculous Draught of Fish
kurzbeschreibung
Pieter Soutman (1595–1657) created the etching Wunderbarer Fischzug in the 17th century. A boat with five men is shown defending themselves against a serpent-like creature; behind them stretches a cloud-covered landscape.
Description
Five male figures are distributed in a simple boat: some stand upright, others kneel or lie on the floor. In the middle of the boat, a large, snake-like creature wrestles with the men. A dramatic, cloud-laden sky forms the background and heightens the intensity of the action. The bodies are powerfully and intricately drawn; one person holds an oar. The black-and-white etching uses varying line thickness to create dynamism and tension.
Context
Born around 1595 in Haarlem and died in 1657 in Amsterdam, Pieter Soutman worked as a Dutch painter and printmaker. Among other things, he worked for Peter Paul Rubens, whose dramatic Baroque style influenced him. The etching was made in the first half of the 17th century, when religious and mythological themes were widespread in printmaking. The Wunderbarer Fischzug refers to a biblical story from the Gospel of Luke, in which Jesus leads the disciples to an unexpectedly rich catch.
Impact
The dense arrangement and the dramatic sky create immediate tension. The struggle with the creature gives the image an almost mythical force that captivates the viewer. The monochrome execution emphasizes the line work and intensifies the expressive impact of the print.
Technique
This print is an etching, an intaglio process in which the drawing is scratched into an acid-resistant layer on a copper plate and then etched. The lines vary in thickness, producing sculptural effects and shading. The work is printed in black and white and displays the detail typical of Baroque printmaking.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)