The Giants--Nimrod 

Gustave Doré made this print of Nimrod, a giant from Dante's Inferno, in the late 1800s, using steel engraving. Consider the material quality of an engraving; a design is etched into a metal plate, which is then inked and pressed onto paper. The image gains its effect from a delicate tracery of thin lines, which define everything from the giant's bulging musculature to the texture of the rough-hewn stone he sits upon. Doré was a master of this medium, creating images that are at once dramatic and highly detailed. Engraving, a skilled craft, was essential for mass media, and thus, was bound to the industrial revolution. The making of prints like these brought literary works to a wider audience. Look closely, and you'll notice how Doré’s virtuosity lends a palpable weight and presence to the figure of Nimrod, even as the artist's hand remains visible in every stroke. Appreciating the materials and making offers an important way into understanding the image, beyond just its literary subject.