Hemelvaart van Christus c. 1600 - 1652

Editor: Here we have "The Ascension of Christ", an engraving likely created between 1600 and 1652 by François Stuerhelt. The way the artist rendered the figures and textures, all from these tiny etched lines, is striking. What draws your eye when you look at it? Curator: What grabs me is the intense labor embedded in the engraving process. Imagine the sheer time investment to create that swirling, theatrical sky! Also consider, what social systems enabled Stuerhelt access to materials and training, to refine this craft, to disseminate religious iconography so widely? Editor: That’s a great point – the "how" of it all. How did they even mass-produce engravings back then? Curator: Exactly. Think of the printing press not just as a machine, but as a nexus of labor. Miners extracting metal for the plates, the engraver meticulously working the image, the printers, the distributors…it's an entire economic network dedicated to replicating this one image. Also note how this is history painting, not *just* religious depiction. What stories are told? Editor: So the very act of creating and circulating this print becomes a reflection of the broader societal structures at play? And do you think this engraving, as a reproducible object, changes how people experienced faith compared to unique painted artworks in churches? Curator: Precisely. Reproducibility transformed art's role. It democratized images, but also commodified them. People gained access to religious scenes and other artworks in their homes, influencing individual piety, while still controlled and marketed through systems. It is mass production of something unique; this Baroque engraving, now replicated. It's not only a work of devotion, but also industry. What’s changed for you about how you see this artwork? Editor: I hadn’t considered the work as part of the bigger manufacturing and distributing ecosystem. That makes it so much more interesting! Thanks!