Festa della Sensa (eerste gedeelte) 1679

This print, Festa della Sensa (eerste gedeelte), was made by Jost Amman in the late 16th century. It’s an engraving, meaning that the image was incised into a metal plate, inked, and then printed onto paper. The process demands skill. Each line had to be cut precisely to create the image. Look closely, and you’ll notice that Amman used different densities of lines to create the illusion of shading and depth. The textures of the building’s walls, and the figures in the market stalls, emerge from this careful labor. The print is more than just a picture. It's a product of a specific time and place, reflecting the rise of printmaking as a means of mass communication. It served the needs of commerce and the spread of information. We can see the image as not just a work of art, but also as a kind of early industrial product, made possible by skilled labor and new technologies of reproduction. Prints like this blur the boundaries between art, craft, and industry.