Courage 1560

Pieter Bruegel the Elder made this engraving, Courage, using the reductive process of intaglio. Lines were incised into a copper plate, and then inked. The pressure involved in printing would have been considerable; one can feel the force needed to push the paper into the fine lines, lifting the ink. The matrix of lines yields a composition packed with incident. Look closely, and you’ll see a teeming battle, a swirling chaos of armored soldiers and monstrous creatures. This is an allegory of courage, a virtue presented as the conquest of vice. Its power is expressed in the act of image-making. Bruegel was not alone in making prints like this: it was the age of the printing press, and the distribution of images was becoming a major industry. This particular print bears the imprint of Hieronymus Cock, a leading publisher based in Antwerp. Bruegel made the design, but Cock controlled its production and sale. So even in this apparently singular image, we can see the workings of a collaborative process. By understanding this interplay of materials, making, and context, we gain a richer appreciation for the artistry and cultural significance of works like this.