De apostel Thomas 1508 - 1512

Lucas van Leyden made this engraving of the Apostle Thomas sometime in the early 16th century. It’s a great example of the printmaker’s art, which depended on making multiple images from a single metal plate. The process begins by incising lines into a copper plate with a tool called a burin. Ink is then forced into these lines, the surface of the plate is wiped clean, and paper is pressed against the plate – transferring the image. The resulting image is defined by the crispness of the engraved lines. Think about the labor involved. Each print requires careful inking and pressing. Yet, unlike a unique drawing or painting, many identical images can be made. This allowed for relatively inexpensive distribution of images, democratizing art in a way never before possible. Though a print like this may seem distant from our world of digital reproduction, it’s an important step in that direction. It collapses the distinction between high art and everyday life.