Lot and his Daughters
Original title: Lot and his Daughters
kurzbeschreibung
Jan Georg (Joris) van Vliet made this etching between 1620 and 1640. It interprets the biblical story of Lot and his daughters. The sheet measures 27.7 x 22.4 cm and is the fourth of five states. The image draws on the Genesis account in which Lot, after Sodom's destruction, lives in a cave with his daughters.
Description
Lot sits on the ground holding a large bowl. Behind him stands a woman looking at him, while a young woman faces him and offers something. Far off, a ruined city smokes—a reference to the flight. The figures' garments follow Renaissance forms with pronounced folds and textures. Muted light creates shadows and deepens the space; the grays stay monochrome, as the etching technique requires.
Context
Van Vliet, a seventeenth-century Dutch artist, is known mainly for his prints. The subject of Lot and his daughters was popular in Baroque art and often read morally or allegorically. The sheet was probably made in Leiden, where van Vliet had ties to Rembrandt. That the etching exists in several states points to careful reworking by the artist.
Impact
The viewer's eye is drawn first to the calm, intimate closeness of the biblical figures, who meet the dramatic event in the distance almost matter-of-factly. Light and shadow give the scene a melancholy depth. The precise rendering of fabrics and details shows high technical skill.
Technique
In etching, the drawing is scratched into a wax layer on a copper plate and then bitten with acid—an intaglio process. Van Vliet's fourth of five states shows repeated reworking of the plate to refine details. The monochrome grays come from varying the density and direction of lines, which model shadows and textures.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)