Landschap met brug met vier bogen

Nicolas Perelle created this landscape with a four-arched bridge as an etching. It's a print, designed for circulation and sale in seventeenth-century France. The print speaks to a burgeoning market for imagery, particularly among the middle classes, eager to consume visions of ideal landscapes. We can see this drive in its composition. The orderly bridge and architecture contrasts with the wildness of nature, a testament to humanity's ability to tame and improve the natural world. The print also reflects a very hierarchical society. The inscription tells us that it was printed in Paris, by Pierre Mariette, who enjoyed the privilege du roi, a royal license which gave him exclusive rights to publish prints. To understand this image, we must understand the social and institutional context that shaped its production and consumption. By looking at archival records, such as publishers' inventories, we can begin to reconstruct the world of images in early modern France.