Maria met Kind en twee schenkers c. 1581 - 1645

This image, made by Karel van Mallery, is a print. Prints are fascinating because they are inherently reproducible. This one, depicts Mary with Child and two donors. Van Mallery would have used a sharp tool called a burin to incise lines into a copper plate. The ink settles into these grooves, and when the plate is pressed onto paper, the image transfers. Look closely and you can see the network of lines that create the image. Prints like this one played a crucial role in disseminating images and ideas. They made art more accessible, serving a devotional purpose, while also participating in an early form of mass media. The work involved in creating the plate was skilled and time-consuming, yet the final product could be multiplied endlessly, influencing devotion and culture on a broad scale. Appreciating the labor and the means of production opens up new perspectives on the artwork's meaning.