Allegorische voorstelling met personificatie van gerechtigheid en rechtsgeleerden 1696 - 16961

Abraham de Blois made this print in the early 1700s, can you imagine him working with these tiny little lines? The engraving depicts justice with various figures in what looks like a Roman library. You can see them lugging and stacking these huge books. What kind of thoughts must have gone into creating a scene with such clarity and detail? I mean, you know, each mark carefully placed to build up this whole world. It makes you wonder about the artist's patience, right? The central figure seems to be studying law and he’s surrounded by stacks of books, kind of like any academic today. The texture of the paper, the way the light hits their robes. He has created an entire architecture within this small space. That sort of rendering, that attention to detail, is a conversation with history. We look at it now, and we’re part of that ongoing exchange.