Le dragon qui se void dans le jardin de Ruel c. 1665

This print, "Le dragon qui se void dans le jardin de Ruel," was made by François Le Febvre in the 17th century, likely through etching or engraving. Here, it’s not so much the material, but the *idea* of materials that counts. Le Febvre has given us an image of bejeweled ornaments hanging over a formal garden. The arrangement is a celebration of luxury, even excess. The gemstones, rendered in painstaking detail, speak to the wealth and labor required to extract, cut, and set them. In the 1600s, the production of prints like this one was becoming increasingly standardized, a nascent form of industrialization. Consider the contrast: the artist's skilled hand, recording elite consumption. He has left us with a memento of a social world defined by both privilege, and, one might argue, the exploitation that makes it possible. Ultimately, this print reminds us that even seemingly straightforward images are embedded in complex social and economic realities.