Mishandeling van de Israëlieten door de Egyptenaren 1585

Johann Sadeler I made this engraving, *Mishandeling van de Israëlieten door de Egyptenaren*, sometime before his death in 1601. It’s a print, so, made by incising lines into a metal plate, inking it, and then running it through a press with a sheet of paper. Sadeler was a master of this process, and the crispness of the lines allows for incredible detail. Notice how he uses hatching and cross-hatching to create a full range of tones. The material here is crucial: the hardness of the metal plate allows for the creation of a repeatable image, which can be disseminated widely. Of course, this also means that Sadeler could profit from his skill, selling prints to a broad audience eager for biblical scenes like this one. Look closely, and you can really feel the weight of labor. The drama is not just in the composition, but in the making.