Plate 40: the division of the elect from the reprobate 1756

"Plate 40: the division of the elect from the reprobate" was made in the 1700s by Bartolomeo Crivellari. It's an engraving, meaning the image was incised into a metal plate, inked, and then printed onto paper. The material quality of the print – its stark contrast of light and shadow, the fineness of the lines – is entirely dependent on the engraver’s skill. Look closely, and you can see the dense network of marks that build up the scene. Crivellari was part of a printmaking industry. His labor as a skilled artisan connected him to the social and religious context of the time, reproducing imagery for wide distribution. This wasn't just about artistic expression, but also about the mechanics of faith, and how images could reinforce religious doctrine. Considering the print in this way – as the product of skilled labor and a system of production – helps us to look beyond the art historical canon, and to see the broader cultural work that images perform.