Bevrijding van Petrus 1633

Michel Dorigny made this print, “Bevrijding van Petrus,” in the mid-17th century by engraving lines into a copper plate. The incised lines hold ink, which is then transferred to paper under pressure. It’s a reproductive medium, meaning that prints like this one were often made after paintings, popularizing them for a wider audience. The striking thing here is the contrast between the relatively quick industrial process of printmaking and the image itself, which depicts a miraculous event. Saint Peter’s escape from prison, aided by an angel, would have been understood as a victory over earthly constraints, yet here it is delivered to us by way of the printing press—a technology devoted to mass production and circulation. Consider the labor that went into this image: the engraver’s patient work, line by line, and the press operator’s efforts to pull each impression. Printmaking existed in a complex relationship with the artistic hierarchy, seen as a trade yet capable of conveying profound spiritual messages. The print becomes a fascinating convergence of the hand-made and the mechanically reproduced, the sacred and the commercial.