Leven van de heilige Stephanus 1604

This print, “Life of Saint Stephen,” of unknown date, was made by an anonymous artist. It is an engraving, a graphic medium with a fascinating relationship to labor. An engraver painstakingly carves lines into a metal plate; these lines hold ink, and when paper is pressed against the plate, an image is transferred. The result has a crisp, precise quality, which you can see in the details of Stephen’s robes and the surrounding scenes from his life. Engraving was a key technology in the early modern period. It allowed images to be reproduced and disseminated widely. But it also represents a specific kind of skilled work – a slow, deliberate process that stands in contrast to the mass production we associate with later forms of printmaking. The image has been built up with the application of different, precise marks. The cross-hatching indicates the areas of shadow and depth, while the linear work is more exposed. The medium itself thus embodies a tension between craft and industry, a tension that continues to shape our understanding of art today. By considering the making of the work, and how the artist achieved the effect, we can appreciate its cultural significance.