Abraham verdrijft Hagar en Ismaël c. 1645 - 1740

This print, depicting Abraham casting out Hagar and Ishmael, was created by Christoffel van Sichem II. It’s a woodcut, which means the artist would have painstakingly carved away the areas he wanted to appear white, leaving the lines to be printed in relief. Look closely, and you'll notice how the linear quality of the image is a direct result of this process. Woodcuts were a relatively accessible medium at the time, allowing for the wider dissemination of images and ideas. The very nature of the print, as a multiple, speaks to the rise of a more democratized visual culture. Consider the labor involved in producing this image: from the felling of the tree and preparation of the block, to the skilled carving required to render the scene. These details, which might be easily overlooked, are crucial to understanding the print's place within a broader social and economic context. So, next time you look at a print, think about the journey of the material and the hand that shaped it.