Landscape c. 1635

Editor: This anonymous etching, simply titled "Landscape", presents us with a detailed rural scene. What strikes me is the contrast between the careful rendering of the buildings and the more sketched-in fields. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Consider the economics of printmaking; the cost of the copper plate, the labor involved in etching. This wasn't mass-produced for high art consumers. This detailed landscape would have served a practical purpose, perhaps architectural documentation or even surveying. Notice the church; how its materiality is rendered with such precision. Where did this print circulate, and who would have purchased it, given its functionality? Editor: That’s fascinating! I hadn’t considered its practical purpose so much, rather than its aesthetic value. Curator: Thinking about its production and purpose changes the whole picture, doesn't it?