Esther before Ahasuerus, inviting him for a banquet 1564

Philips Galle made this engraving, Esther before Ahasuerus, inviting him for a banquet, sometime between the mid-16th and early 17th century. The image is made using the intaglio process, where lines are incised into a metal plate, then filled with ink and printed. Look closely, and you’ll notice the fineness of the lines, achieved by manually cutting into the copper. The lines are incredibly dense; observe the robes, the depth achieved through cross-hatching. Notice the contrast with the relative plainness of the architectural elements. The burnishing, used to create lighter areas, would have been incredibly labor intensive. The print medium was ideal for spreading visual ideas throughout Europe. Galle was a prolific printmaker, and his workshop enabled the distribution of images like this one, making them accessible to a wide audience. The image is both beautiful and informative, testament to the value that early modern Europeans placed on skilled hand work.