St. Michael and the Dragon, from a Latin edition 1511

Albrecht Durer made this image of St. Michael and the Dragon using woodcut, a relief printmaking technique. The stark contrast between black lines and the white paper creates the scene's dramatic tension. Durer meticulously carved an image into a block of wood, leaving raised areas to hold ink, with everything else cut away, and those areas later printed onto paper. Look closely and you can appreciate the sheer precision and control this process demanded. The medium itself, wood, has a long history, like other printing methods, of making images accessible. It was a way to disseminate imagery to a broad audience, far beyond the wealthy elite who could afford unique paintings. This process enabled the widespread distribution of religious and allegorical scenes like this one, influencing culture far beyond the immediate art world. In the end, understanding the materials and processes behind an image like this, the labor, and the intent, helps us see it as more than just a picture. It’s a cultural artifact.