Apollo and Daphne 

Antoine Jacquard created this print of Apollo and Daphne in the mid-17th century. Likely, it would have been produced through etching or engraving on a metal plate. Look closely, and you can see the linear marks that define the forms. The material reality of this artwork is its basis for the neat, reproducible image, that could be printed over and over again. This availability speaks to a shift in the early modern era, as printmaking allowed wider audiences to experience art. Note the story being told from classical mythology, rendered through a graphic medium. The artist engaged with the skilled traditions of draftsmanship and print production. But these belong to histories of creative practices and aesthetics. Think about the amount of labor involved in the production process: from metalworking to the manual labor of printing. Considering materials, making, and context allows us to fully understand an artwork's meaning, challenging the traditional distinction between fine art and craft.