Coat of Arms with a Cock 1543

This is Sebald Beham’s ‘Coat of Arms with a Cock,’ made in 1543. It’s a tiny engraving, less than three inches high. The controlled labor required to produce this kind of image is astounding. Beham used a technique called ‘copperplate engraving’, in which lines are incised into a copper plate. The plate is then inked, and the surface wiped clean, leaving ink only in the engraved lines. The printmaker then presses paper onto the plate to transfer the ink. Notice the incredible detail achieved through the careful, precise, cutting of the plate, the cross-hatching used to give the impression of three-dimensionality, and the lettering on the banners. Copperplate engraving was a key technology in the early modern period, used for everything from maps to scientific illustrations to, as here, heraldry. The technique enabled the relatively easy distribution of complex images, a parallel to the rise of early capitalism.