Vier vrouwen, gekleed volgens de Italiaanse mode van ca. 1580 before 1581

This print, made around 1580 by Abraham de Bruyn, depicts four women dressed in the Italian fashion of the time. The printmaking process itself - likely engraving or etching - is key to understanding this image. Consider the labor involved: the careful scoring of lines into a metal plate, wiped with ink and then pressed onto paper. This was a reproductive technology, allowing images to circulate widely. Here, fashion itself is being put into production, with the garments rendered in exquisite detail. Notice the layered textures, patterns, and the sheer volume of fabric. These materials speak to a culture of consumption and display, accessible only to the elite. The image’s purpose was likely to disseminate these styles, feeding a desire for luxury goods and reinforcing social hierarchies. By focusing on the material culture represented here, we can see how printmaking played a role in shaping early modern notions of identity and status. It collapses any high/low distinction.