Portret van Jacoba van Beieren before 1725

This is an engraving of Jacoba van Beieren, made anonymously. As a print, it was of course made through a process of exacting labor, cutting lines into a metal plate which would then be inked and pressed onto paper. Engravings like this one were part of a boom in reproducible images, a key aspect of early capitalism. While the ostensible subject is a noblewoman, look at the details. Her dress, her bearing, the architecture around her. All of it is painstakingly rendered through countless tiny marks. Think of the focused labor that went into this, the many hours spent by an artisan who would likely never meet the elite subject of his work. The contrast between Jacoba and the printmaker is stark, but they are linked by the image itself. The circulation of this image is a testament to the increasing power of the printing press, and the growing importance of skilled trades in society. It also reminds us that even images of the powerful are, in the end, the products of someone's hard work.