Salmacis en Hermaphroditus c. 1572 - 1652

This print, Salmacis en Hermaphroditus, now in the Rijksmuseum, was made by Johannes and Lucas van Doetechum. The process of printmaking is crucial to understanding its effect. Consider how the image came into being: lines are incised into a metal plate, which is then inked and pressed onto paper. Each impression is a copy, of course, and this allows for wide distribution. In its own time, that reproducibility would have been quite impressive, even world-changing. We’re talking about early modern Europe here, when the circulation of images was limited and costly. The making of this image would have involved specialized labor: highly skilled engravers, yes, but also a sophisticated workshop system. So even though it is small and unassuming, this print is a testament to the growing complexities of labor and commerce in its time. It reminds us to look beyond the image itself and consider the social world that brought it into being.