The Holy Family, an angel holding flowers approaching from the right 1550 - 1553

Andrea Schiavone made this print, The Holy Family, in the mid-16th century. It's an etching, meaning the artist coated a metal plate with wax, drew this composition with a needle, and then bathed the plate in acid, which bit into the exposed lines. Look closely, and you'll see how the varying pressure of Schiavone's hand created lines of different depths, and therefore different darknesses when printed. The hatching – all those tiny parallel lines – create areas of shadow and volume. See how he used this technique to give weight to the Virgin's drapery, and a sense of depth to the architectural setting. The resulting print could be reproduced many times over, and sold at relatively low cost. In this way, the graphic arts, like ceramics or textiles, were deeply connected to the rise of mercantile capitalism in Renaissance Europe, making art available to a much wider audience. This etching isn't just a devotional image; it's also a testament to the power of repeatable, and therefore affordable, design.