Heilige Judas Taddeüs c. 1520 - 1550

Editor: This is Antonio da Trento's "Heilige Judas Thaddäus," an engraving from sometime between 1520 and 1550. It’s a powerful image, but it also feels somehow unfinished, a study in light and shadow. What strikes you about it? Curator: Immediately, I think about the role prints played in disseminating religious imagery at that time. Consider how prints made images of saints and biblical scenes accessible to a much wider audience than paintings or frescoes. It democratized devotion, in a way. Do you see how the rough lines and somewhat simplified form might actually serve that purpose? Editor: I guess I hadn’t considered that! It being so widely available changes how I view it, gives it a different kind of power. It feels less like a unique art object. But if it was made to be mass produced, why isn’t the quality better? Curator: That’s where the politics come in. Printing, while revolutionary, was still developing. Often, prints served as models for other artists or workshops. Was it intended for mass consumption as we understand it now, or for circulation within artistic circles? Think of the workshops and networks – the “industry,” if you will – supporting religious image production. How does this humble print fit into the economics and politics of faith in 16th-century Europe? Editor: That's fascinating, I always forget that art had an "industry" back then too. Now I’m thinking about how this might have been used, who bought it, and where it would have ended up…it brings so many more questions to the table than simply viewing the print for its aesthetic qualities. Curator: Exactly! And those are crucial questions to consider when we think about the role of art in society, past and present.