Portret van de heilige maagd Maria 1627 - 1676

This is Joannes Galle’s engraving of the Virgin Mary, made in Antwerp, likely sometime in the mid-17th century. The image exists within a long history of the Catholic Church’s visual rhetoric, intended to inspire piety and devotion in the faithful. Galle was a member of a prolific family of artists and printmakers based in the Southern Netherlands. His workshop mass-produced images such as this for local consumption and export across Europe and the Americas. The print is inscribed in Latin, further indicating its intended role in the practices of the church. Note how Mary’s gaze drifts heavenward, in an expression of holy rapture that would be instantly recognizable to contemporary audiences. Art historians can draw upon archival sources and printed materials to learn more about Galle's workshop, his artistic training, and the market for devotional images in the early modern period. Understanding this context helps us to appreciate how art served the social and institutional purposes of its time.