Zeevarken before 1650

Antonio Tempesta made this small but striking print, "Zeevarken," using an engraving technique. The lines were incised into a copper plate with a tool called a burin, a painstaking process. Consider the material qualities of the print itself: its monochrome palette and the crispness of line, achieved by skilled labor. Tempesta had to translate an image in his mind's eye into the graphic language of the printmaker, and was shaped by the specificities of the medium. Prints like this were made for mass consumption. They represent the rise of visual culture, and allowed imagery to be widely distributed. The choice of subject is no accident: as global trade routes opened up, people became fascinated by exotic creatures, real and imagined. This "sea pig," with its walrus tusks and fierce expression, speaks to a world increasingly shaped by trade, curiosity, and perhaps a touch of anxiety about the unknown. By focusing on the materials and the making, we see that this image is not just a fantasy, but an artifact deeply embedded in its time.