Zittend naakt uit de Sixtijnse kapel. 1551

Dirck Volckertsz Coornhert made this engraving on paper, titled *Zittend naakt uit de Sixtijnse kapel*. Look closely and you’ll see the entire image is built from a network of finely incised lines. This intaglio printmaking technique would have involved laborious work by the artist, using a tool called a burin to manually cut lines into a copper plate. Ink is then applied to the recessed lines, and the plate is pressed onto paper, transferring the image. The visual language derives from Michelangelo, but it’s been filtered through the skilled hand and labor of Coornhert. Consider the cultural context: prints like this made art accessible to a wider audience and played a crucial role in disseminating artistic ideas, acting as a form of visual currency in the 16th century. What we have here is not just a reproduction, but a transformation. Coornhert's masterful handling of line and tone, combined with his skilled craftsmanship, underscores the print's significance as both a work of art and a testament to the power of reproductive media in shaping artistic discourse.