St. Bavo, from the series Saints of North and South Netherlands 1650

Pieter Soutman created this print of St. Bavo as part of a series of Northern and Southern Netherlandish Saints. It's an engraving, meaning the image was incised into a metal plate, which was then inked and printed. The technique allowed for detailed lines, seen here in the saint's armor and regal cloak. Consider the labor involved; each line painstakingly carved, the plate carefully inked, and then printed. These prints were commodities, produced for a market and consumed as devotional images. The fact that it is reproducible raises questions about the role of images in spreading religious and cultural ideas. Soutman emphasizes Bavo’s status through his garments, and the eagle which symbolizes the saint. Soutman was not only immortalizing St. Bavo in his print, but he was also participating in a broader culture of art, labor, and religious devotion. Looking closely at the materials and processes involved helps us understand the social and cultural context of the artwork.