Stad Dole overhandigt Filips IV een krans 1638

This print, *Stad Dole overhandigt Filips IV een krans*, was created by Cornelis Galle I in Antwerp in 1638. Its fine lines are the product of the engraver’s burin, cutting into a copper plate. The matrix would have been inked, and then printed under great pressure. The very act of printing was tied to complex social issues. Galle was part of a highly developed commercial network; Antwerp was a leading center for the production and distribution of printed images. As you can see from the inscription at the bottom, this particular print came from the Plantin-Moretus workshop, a veritable industrial complex in its time. The image celebrates political power, but it was itself a commodity, made possible by the division of labor. The contrast between the unique status of the crowned figure, and the reproducible nature of the print, is telling. It speaks volumes about the social and economic transformations of the 17th century.