Portret van Karel II, koning van Spanje 1670 - 1713

This is an engraving of Charles II, King of Spain, made by Pieter Schenk. The image is made by incising lines into a metal plate, applying ink to the grooves, and then pressing paper against the plate to create a print. The quality of the print depends on the engraver’s skill, and the pressure applied during printing. But it also depended on labor: from the mining of the metal to the papermaking, to the work of printers distributing it. What makes this image resonate, though, is the text that surrounds Charles’ portrait. A caption declares that Louis XIV, the King of France, “makes war on heretics,” while Charles counters, “But I seek peace, as a good Catholic King.” The portrait becomes a piece of propaganda, attempting to cast Charles II as a force for unity, and implicitly, a better ruler than his French counterpart. This wasn’t simply an image of power, it was intended to *do* power. And it did this thanks to a whole system of production and distribution.