Gezicht op het Rijndal bij Bazel 1628 - 1679

This small, unsigned print depicts a view of the Rhine Valley near Basel and was made with etching. Prints such as this one were part of a burgeoning industry in the Netherlands and Germany beginning in the sixteenth century, making views of cityscapes and landscapes widely available. This print provides the viewer with a serene vista. It is a combination of close observation and established visual codes that could be easily recognizable. On the one hand, it provides a seemingly faithful rendering of the landscape, whilst on the other, its composition alludes to idealized nature scenes that were popular at the time. The history of printmaking offers many avenues for exploration, including the establishment of workshops and the training of artists, the development of distribution networks and the formation of a market for images. A close look at watermarks and printing techniques can help date the work more precisely. The production and circulation of images such as this were crucial to the shaping of cultural values.