Saint Jerome by the Pollard Willow 1512

Albrecht Dürer made this engraving, Saint Jerome by the Pollard Willow, in 1512 using a metal plate and acid. Dürer’s skill with the burin is astounding. Look closely, and you’ll see the thousands of tiny cuts he made to create this image. The varying depth and thickness of these lines create a rich tonal range, from the deep blacks of the foreground to the delicate grays of the sky. It’s a labor-intensive process, requiring immense patience and control. Engraving was a relatively new technology at the time, and Dürer was one of its early masters. The ability to create multiple identical images democratized art, making it accessible to a wider audience. Prints like this one could be sold at relatively low prices, contributing to Dürer’s fame and also spreading religious imagery throughout Europe. Think about the implications of this for Dürer himself. He wasn’t just an artist; he was also an entrepreneur, managing his own production and distribution. And in that sense, this seemingly devotional image speaks to broader social and economic shifts that were happening at the time, especially in relation to the print market.