Plate 17: Illustration to Canto XVII, from Torquato Tasso's 'Gerusalemme liberata III' 1585 - 1630

This print was made by Antonio Tempesta, an Italian artist working around the turn of the 17th century. It's an etching, a printmaking technique where lines are incised into a metal plate, which is then inked and pressed onto paper. The real subject here is labor. Look closely at the image: every single one of those thousands of marks had to be cut by hand into the metal. The image shows a vast army, tents stretching into the distance - but the etching process itself represents a monumental, almost unimaginable amount of work. The print would have been made in multiples, distributed widely, and viewed individually. This disconnect between the massive effort of production, and the quiet reception of the final object, really embodies the spirit of early capitalism. It's an important part of the print's meaning, and part of Tempesta's achievement.