Gezicht op de Römer Zaal te Frankfurt am Main 18th century

This print, depicting the Römer Zaal in Frankfurt, was made by Basset sometime between 1785 and 1819. It's an engraving, meaning the image was incised into a metal plate, likely copper, and then printed. Afterwards, it was hand-colored. The image shows the room arranged for the election of the Holy Roman Emperor. But, the print itself is an artifact of its own kind of labor. Engraving requires meticulous skill, and the coloring would have been a separate task, perhaps done by another worker entirely. Consider the social context: prints like these were part of a burgeoning industry, making images accessible to a wider audience than ever before. They were commodities, produced for a market. Even as it depicts a scene of imperial power, the print is enmeshed in the world of commerce and craft. It reminds us that even seemingly straightforward images carry the weight of their making. This challenges the traditional view that separates "high art" from more quotidian forms of production.