Allegorische voorstelling met Minerva, Mercurius, Neptunus en Hercules 1688

This allegorical print, of unknown date and authorship, was made using the intaglio process. The artist would have used a sharp tool to cut lines into a metal plate, which was then inked and pressed onto paper. The resulting image, an assembly of classical figures, is rich with symbolism. Minerva, Mercury, Neptune, and Hercules, all drawn with crisp lines and careful shading. It has an air of academic polish about it – a kind of careful labor quite different from the industrial mode of production then emerging. Prints like these were produced in multiples, making imagery accessible to a broader public. But consider the skilled hand-work involved: the engraver’s precise cuts, the press operator's careful application of pressure. These are laborers too, contributing to the circulation of ideas and images in their own way. By attending to the material origins of this print, we can appreciate how it participates in a wider network of making and meaning.