Overwinningsritueel bij oorsponkelijke bewoners van Virginia 1721

This engraving was made by Bernard Picart, likely in the early 18th century. It depicts a ritual of thanksgiving among the Indigenous people of Virginia. The image is realized through the skilled application of line, which is deeply connected to social and cultural meaning. As a mechanical medium, engraving was critical to the rise of modern capitalism. It made images widely available and reproducible, fueling a growing information economy. Yet, the individual labor involved in creating each plate—the careful cutting of lines into metal—also stands in stark contrast to the human cost of colonialism, here a kind of evidence from afar. Consider the details: the way Picart suggests textures and forms through hatching and cross-hatching, and the knowledge he conveys of ethnographic detail. While this image provided Europeans with a glimpse into an unfamiliar world, it is worth remembering that the processes of making and the drive for profit were transforming that world forever. This print serves as a reminder of the complex intersection of art, craft, and commerce.