Schroefstoomschip Mohammed Said, Marie de Brabant et Comte de Hainaut varend op zee 1847 - 1874

Johan Conrad Greive created this print of the steamship Mohammed Said, Marie de Brabant, and Comte de Hainaut sometime in the 19th century. The lithographic process allowed for the relatively quick reproduction of images, playing an important role in the expansion of visual culture and engineering innovation during the Industrial Revolution. Note the incredible detail: you can see individual waves, and the rigging of the ships is meticulously rendered. Lithography allowed a skilled artist like Greive to capture the nuances of light and shadow, creating a sense of depth and realism. What's interesting is how this medium democratized image-making. While painting was the domain of the wealthy, lithography allowed for the wider circulation of information. This print isn't just a pretty picture; it's a document of technological progress, and a sign of the times, when new kinds of industrial production were transforming the world. The availability of this print to the public signals how technologies of both image-making and sea-faring shaped society.