Mountainous Landscape with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt 1565 - 1629

Editor: This is Aegidius Sadeler II’s “Mountainous Landscape with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt,” dating between 1565 and 1629. It's an intaglio print, a detailed landscape with figures in the foreground. I’m struck by how the artist uses line to create texture. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Well, let’s think about the materials. As an intaglio print, this image was produced through an elaborate and potentially collaborative process, requiring specialized labor and materials: metal plates, etching acids, inks, and a printing press. Even the paper becomes significant when we start asking where it came from, how it was produced, and who had access to it. How does that change our interpretation? Editor: It does give it a different feel, to think about the actual making of the print, not just the image itself. So, beyond just a picture, this becomes evidence of a workshop. Does the religious narrative impact that process or its meaning? Curator: Certainly. Think about the distribution of such prints in the context of the Counter-Reformation. Were these readily available, or were they controlled? Was the labor of producing them valued? Also, consider what it meant to mass produce imagery for the Catholic Church at the time, given their focus on visual messaging to re-engage the masses. Is this a spiritual act, a form of commerce, or perhaps a blend of both? Editor: It makes me think about how images can be both religious and commercial objects at the same time. The labor behind even a single print…it adds another layer to it all. Curator: Precisely! Looking closely at these prints provides invaluable insights into the world of their making, labor, consumption, and wider society.