Portret van geestelijke en schrijver Johannes Eusebius Nieremberg 17th century

This print of Johannes Eusebius Nieremberg was made in 1659 by V. Guigou. The medium is engraving, a printmaking process where lines are incised into a metal plate, which is then inked and pressed onto paper. The image’s visual impact comes directly from the painstaking labor involved in its making. Each line, each curve, had to be physically carved into the metal. Notice how the density of these lines creates areas of shadow and depth, giving the portrait a sense of volume. The engraver, whose name we know, would have possessed highly specialized skills, passed down through a lineage of workshops and studios. Prints like these facilitated the spread of ideas, both religious and philosophical, during the early modern period, connecting the worlds of craft and intellectual labor. The act of engraving, with its blend of technical skill and artistic expression, challenges our conventional separation of art and craft.