Engel en kind bekronen elkaar met bloemenkrans 1628

This woodcut, made by Christoffel van Sichem II around the mid-17th century, depicts an angel and child crowning each other with wreaths. The image is made through a subtractive process: the artist painstakingly carved away the negative space around the lines with chisels and gouges. The remaining raised lines were then inked and printed, leaving us with the image you see here. The sharp contrast and graphic quality are typical of this process. Consider the sheer labor involved in creating this intricate scene. Every line, every detail of the figures, garden, and architecture required careful planning and skillful execution. In its time, this print would have been a relatively affordable way to possess a beautiful devotional image, made possible by the multiplication inherent in the printing process. So while this piece might not be considered "high art," it embodies a remarkable confluence of skill, labor, and accessibility.