Man with a Fish 1522

Dirck Vellert made this tiny engraving, *Man with a Fish*, in the first half of the sixteenth century. Vellert worked in the printmaking technique of engraving, cutting lines into a metal plate, inking it, and then running it through a press. The material qualities of the print—its monochrome palette and miniaturist scale—are very much part of its charm. The image is incredibly fine and quite detailed, all the more impressive considering its size. Prints like this were relatively cheap and easy to produce and to circulate. They helped transform images into commodities, which could be bought and sold. The print medium also enabled artists to make multiples of their own compositions or reproduce the works of others; this led to the more widespread dissemination of new ideas and artistic styles. This work makes us consider the amount of labor that goes into the production process. We see the labor of the artist, but also the labor of the printer, and of the people who made the paper and the ink.