David is Welcomed after Killing Goliath, and Saul's Jealousy 1547

This is Augustin Hirschvogel's print, "David is Welcomed after Killing Goliath, and Saul's Jealousy," likely created in the mid-16th century. Hirschvogel worked primarily as a cartographer and glass painter, but he also made prints. The intricate details and the precision of line are achieved through the technique of etching, a process that requires considerable skill in metalworking and design. The plate is covered with a waxy ground, the design scratched into it, and then acid is applied to bite into the exposed metal, leaving behind the lines that hold ink. The material of the print itself, paper, is humble, yet it’s the matrix for disseminating this biblical scene widely. You can consider how this print, made through a combination of craft and ingenuity, transforms a story of military triumph into a commodity, available for consumption and contemplation. It reminds us that even stories of heroism are mediated through materials and processes, embedded in a web of labor, politics, and consumption.