Series of Prints with Flowers and Animals in a Landscape

This print, made by Johann Hogenberg in the late 16th or early 17th century, uses the technique of engraving to create a scene of flora and fauna in a landscape. Engraving is an intaglio process; lines are incised into a metal plate, and these are filled with ink to make the print. The striking quality of the engraved line lends the image its crispness. Look closely, and you'll notice the artist uses varying densities of line to create tone and shadow. This painstaking process requires both considerable skill and time, suggesting a workshop setting. The print represents an artificial landscape, in which nature is neatly organized. A bear and artichoke are juxtaposed. The plants in the image have a symbolic meaning and practical use as ingredients in pharmacy and medicine. The very process of printing, which enables endless reproduction, parallels this impulse to manage and control the natural world. We are invited to imagine the world as an ordered display of useful specimens.