Mountain Landscape 1555 - 1575

Lucas Gassel made this landscape view using an engraving technique, where lines are incised into a metal plate and then printed. Look closely, and you’ll see how the varying depths and densities of those lines create a whole world. This wasn’t just a feat of technical virtuosity. It also represented a new way of seeing. Before this time, landscape was usually just background. Here, it's front and center, teeming with life and activity. The buildings, mountains, and foliage are all rendered with the same meticulous care. Engraving was a commercial medium, and could be reproduced, traded, and sold. That's important. It means this kind of close observation, which had previously been reserved for the elite, was now available to a wider audience. This little print is a reminder that art doesn’t just reflect the world, it actively shapes the way we perceive it. And that the so-called “minor” art of printmaking was essential to that process.