Mars 1579 - 1609

This tiny print of Mars was made by Wierix around the turn of the 17th century, using the painstaking technique of engraving. The process involves using a tool called a burin to carve lines directly into a copper plate. The plate is then inked, and the surface wiped clean, leaving ink only in the incised lines. When paper is pressed against the plate, the image is transferred. The result has a crisp, precise quality, quite unlike a drawing. Notice how Wierix uses this linear quality to describe the figure’s armor, and the musculature of his body. Engraving demanded tremendous skill, and was a mainstay of print production at this time. These images were luxury goods, circulated among collectors as a mark of connoisseurship, but also more broadly as a means of disseminating information. Considering this print through the lens of its making helps us to understand its place within a larger culture of skilled labor and artistic production. This was an era of extraordinary craft, and it's work like this that really makes that clear.