Illustratie voor 'Den Arbeid van Mars' van Allain Manesson Mallet 1672

This illustration for ‘Den Arbeid van Mars’ was created by Romeyn de Hooghe, and printed on paper. The graphic quality of this etching—the precision and control of line—belies a world of manual labor. In 17th century Europe, fortifications like this were not just abstract designs on paper, but a colossal undertaking. Building them demanded vast resources and manpower. De Hooghe’s skills as a draughtsman, using metal tools to incise lines onto a printing plate, are intimately connected to the labor of soldiers and builders, whose work he depicts. The print’s sharp, exact lines speak to the division of labor, where designers and engineers conceived complex structures, which others then realized. The very act of printing, with its mechanics of reproduction, echoes the large-scale projects it represents. We might consider how images like this contributed to a culture of planning and control, where even the chaos of war could be subjected to a rational, geometric order. The making of the print, then, mirrors the making of the fortress, connecting art, industry, and the theater of war.