Engelenkoren rond het Christuskind 1617

This print, "Engelenkoren rond het Christuskind," or "Angelic Choirs around the Christ Child," was made by Christoffel van Sichem II, a Dutch Golden Age printmaker. He worked with wood, a relatively inexpensive material, but one demanding considerable skill. Look closely and you can see how he used a sharp knife to carve away the wood around the lines of his composition. The remaining raised lines would then be inked and pressed onto paper. This is a relief printing process, as the image stands in relief above the cut-away surface. Note how the material influences the overall aesthetic. The stark contrast between black and white, and the graphic quality of the lines, imbue the scene with a kind of directness. Woodcuts like this were relatively quick to produce, making them ideal for circulating religious imagery to a broad audience. It’s a great example of how a relatively humble material, combined with ingenious process, can have a significant cultural impact.