The Wedding at Cana, from Das Plenarium 1517

This small, early 16th century woodcut, The Wedding at Cana, was made by Hans Schäufelein, and it shows the moment when Jesus turns water into wine. The print’s lines were carved into a block of wood, which would have demanded tremendous skill, before being inked and pressed onto paper. Then, thin washes of color were applied by hand to complete the image. Woodcuts like this were relatively cheap to produce, and helped to spread biblical stories to a wide audience. Notice the stacks of pitchers in the foreground. These remind us that making and serving wine was labor, a job done by someone. The miracle is all the more impressive in this light; it is a transformation of humble toil into something wondrous. Schäufelein’s image is a reminder that even the most ethereal subjects are rooted in earthly realities: materials, making, and the social life of things.