Cupid wrestling with Pan, amongst the clouds, with two allegorical women seated at left 1598 - 1632

Jacob Matham made this engraving, "Cupid wrestling with Pan," sometime around the turn of the 17th century, using a technique that was highly developed at the time. The printing press was a relatively new technology. It changed not only the production of books but also the distribution of images, like this one, which could circulate widely. Consider the labor involved: the artist had to be a skilled draftsman to translate the scene onto a copper plate. The lines you see were incised with a tool called a burin, and then the plate would be inked and printed, requiring precision and care. What’s most interesting is that printmaking allowed artists to reproduce their designs and sell them in multiples, making art more accessible. This engraving of Cupid and Pan, therefore, is not just an artwork but also evidence of a changing world, where art and its meanings were becoming more widely disseminated.