Studietijd van de heilige Dominicus 1611

This engraving was made by Theodoor Galle around the turn of the 17th century. It shows Saint Dominic selling his precious books to provide alms for the poor during a famine, but the artist is really showing us how the *print* medium can disseminate ideas and morality. Engravings like this one, made with a sharp tool called a burin on a copper plate, were essentially a proto-industrial technology. Galle was one of many artists in the Netherlands who used printmaking to mass-produce imagery for a growing market. Notice the lines, so finely wrought, but also so efficiently deployed. The image suggests an almost paradoxical message about value. By selling his books, Dominic demonstrates the importance of direct action over scholarly detachment. At the same time, Galle is making a case, by the very existence of the engraving, for the worth and importance of knowledge. What better way to spread a message, than through a print?