Landscape with a milkmaid at right and a boy at left 1530 - 1540

This landscape, populated with livestock and figures, was created by Nicolò Boldrini in the 16th century, using a woodcut process. Woodcut is a relief printing technique where an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the non-printing areas cut away, and it demands both physical strength and technical skill. Ink is then applied to the remaining surface, and the image transferred to paper under pressure. Look closely, and you'll notice the predominance of line, and the limited tonal range, which are characteristic of the technique. Boldrini, who was working in Venice at the time, undoubtedly would have been aware of the commercial possibilities of printmaking. This was a period of burgeoning capitalism, and the ability to reproduce images cheaply, and in large quantities, opened up new markets for artists. Printmaking was often regarded as a lesser art form, a mechanical process without the intellectual weight of painting or sculpture. But, by attending to the material reality of a work like this, we see the labor involved, and the social context in which it was made, prompting us to reconsider such distinctions.