Plattegrond van en gezicht op Dresden 1707 - 1757

This colorful map of Dresden was printed anonymously, using ink on paper. The design has been etched onto a metal plate, inked, and then transferred to the page, a process that could be repeated to make many identical prints. Consider the labor involved: the skilled hand of the draftsman mapping the city's layout; the etcher precisely rendering those details in metal; the press operator, cranking out impressions, one after another. Each stage reveals a different kind of work. The very act of mapping transforms the city into a commodity, something to be possessed and understood, from a bird's-eye view, that no individual could ever experience in reality. The use of a mechanical printing process – not unlike the industrialization that would soon transform urban life – allowed for the wide distribution of this image, further reinforcing this sense of control. So, while this print may seem like a simple representation, it actually embodies complex relationships between labor, knowledge, and power. It is an early example of how printmaking became a way of both representing and shaping the world around us.