Tobias Leaving the Table, from "The Story of Tobias" 1543

Georg Pencz made this print, "Tobias Leaving the Table," sometime in the first half of the 16th century, using the intaglio technique of engraving. He would have used a tool called a burin to manually carve lines into a copper plate, a labor-intensive process. Look closely, and you’ll notice how the density of the engraved lines creates a range of tones, mimicking the effects of light and shadow. This is particularly evident in the drapery and architectural details. But more than that, notice that the linear process lends a certain graphic quality to the overall image. The act of engraving itself has social and cultural significance. In Pencz’s time, printmaking enabled the wider distribution of images and ideas. Consider too that while Pencz was a trained artist, the skills needed to create this print were not unlike those of a metalworker. By focusing on the making, we can see how artistic creation is embedded in a wider world of craft and labor.