Plague of Locusts

A Plague Of Locusts, Jan Luyken, etching, 1712, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

The Protestant Reformation that swept through Europe in the sixteenth century radically reshaped Christianity. Traditional ways of visual teaching which had traditionally been used in churches were deemed idolatrous and destroyed. However, illustrations in books were seen as an aid to scriptural learning. This etching by Jan Luyken from Mortier’s Historie des Ouden En Nieuwen Testaments illustrated the fourth plague of Egypt—the plague of locusts.