The Conversion of Saint Paul with God the Father and Angels above 1575

"The Conversion of Saint Paul with God the Father and Angels above" was made by Cherubino Alberti, sometime between the late 16th and early 17th century. The artist used a metal plate, likely copper, and a tool called a burin to manually engrave the image. Alberti would have painstakingly cut lines into the plate to create the complex scene. Ink would then be applied to the plate, lodging in the engraved lines, before being pressed onto paper to produce the final print. The material qualities here – the hardness of the metal, the sharpness of the burin – allowed for incredibly fine detail and precision. Think about the labor involved in creating such a detailed image entirely by hand, line by line. This wasn't a quick process. Each print was a product of considerable time, skill and effort, qualities often overlooked in favor of the image itself. By focusing on the material and the process, we can appreciate the intense work involved and understand its original cultural value.