Acht dansende putti met exotische planten en dieren 1610 - 1640

This print, ‘Eight Dancing Putti with Exotic Plants and Animals,’ was made by Antoine Jacquard in the mid-17th century, using engraving on paper. The image is made up of four arched panels, each containing two 'putti' - those chubby, playful infant figures often seen in Renaissance and Baroque art. They cavort amongst lush vegetation, some of which would have been quite exotic for European viewers at the time. But let's consider the means of production. Engraving is an intaglio process, meaning that the image is incised into a metal plate, traditionally copper. The artist would have used a tool called a burin to carve lines into the plate. This takes considerable skill and time. Once the plate is prepared, it's inked, and then the surface is wiped clean, leaving ink only in the carved lines. Then, under great pressure, the image is transferred to paper. Prints like this one were relatively inexpensive, and so were widely circulated, bringing imagery and ideas to a broad audience. This was a crucial step in the development of visual culture.