Maria met het Christuskind 1680 - 1724

Jacob Gole made this print of Maria met het Christuskind around the turn of the 18th century, using the technique of engraving. Engraving is a printing process by which an image is incised onto a metal plate, usually copper. The engraver uses a tool called a burin to cut lines into the plate, which are then filled with ink and transferred to paper under great pressure. Notice the incredible fineness of the lines here; Gole would have needed total mastery to render the soft volumes of flesh, and the flowing drapery, with such precision. Engraving was at its height in Gole's time, valued for its capacity to disseminate images widely. Prints like these were luxury items, but relatively affordable, bringing art into middle-class homes. The technique was also intimately associated with the idea of exactitude and replication, concepts that resonate even more today. The making of this image asks us to consider the vital role of reproduction in both art and society.