Evangelist Johannes de Evangelist voor Christus en de vierentwintig oudsten before 1646

This print, made by Christoffel van Sichem II, probably in the early 17th century, is a woodcut. Look closely and you can see how the image is built from a dense network of lines. A woodcut is a relief printmaking technique. The artist carves into a block of wood, removing the areas that should not receive ink, leaving the design raised. This requires specialized tools – gouges and knives to precisely cut away the wood – and a deep understanding of the material. Because wood is a natural material, it has a grain. The artist would have needed to manage the grain direction to achieve the intricate details seen here. Consider the amount of work involved in producing such a detailed image, and the skill needed to master the technique. Printing, at this time, was a labor-intensive craft, requiring not only artistic skill but also physical strength. When we consider this, we can appreciate the full complexity of the image and the culture that produced it.