Portret van Margaretha van Valois te paard 1539 - 1545

Cornelis Anthonisz. made this print, Portret van Margaretha van Valois te paard, from woodcut, sometime before 1553. It’s a hand-colored print, made with a relief process. Think of it: a design is carved into a block of wood, and then the remaining raised surface is inked and printed. Here, the coloring would have been added later, by hand, probably by workshop assistants. The resulting impression has a graphic strength, but also a somewhat crude quality. This is not the fine art of painting, but rather a more accessible medium, capable of being reproduced in multiples. This reproductive potential is key. Prints like this allowed images and ideas to circulate widely. Woodcut was a relatively inexpensive process, making art available to a broader public. We should appreciate this object not just for its aesthetic qualities, but also for its role in the distribution of knowledge and the formation of public opinion.