Resurrection of Christ, encompassed by an aureole and clouds with lines of winged putti to either side, a sleeping soldier and arising soldiers below 1577

Melchior Meier created this engraving, Resurrection of Christ, sometime in the late 16th century. It's made with a printmaking process that’s all about lines, carefully incised into a metal plate with a tool called a burin, then inked and pressed onto paper. The stark contrast between light and shadow is achieved through densely packed lines, giving the image a tactile quality, almost like looking at a detailed drawing. It shows the religious scene of Christ rising from his tomb, with soldiers scattered below, and a host of winged putti surrounding him. Engraving, as a process, allowed for the wide dissemination of images. It was a skilled craft, demanding precision and patience – the kind of labor that underpinned the visual culture of the time. The very act of reproducing images through this technique speaks to the rising influence of mass communication, and the labor involved in distributing such works.