Scène uit La Gerusalemme Liberata 1745

This print, "Scène uit La Gerusalemme Liberata," was made by Martin Schedel, using engraving, sometime between 1677 and 1748. Engraving is a painstaking process. The artist uses a tool called a burin to carve lines directly into a metal plate, which is then inked and printed. The fineness of the lines and the intricacy of the details here speak to Schedel's skill and patience. But consider also the social context of printmaking at this time. Prints were a key means of disseminating images and ideas, part of an expanding visual culture. They brought art to a wider audience, but also represented a form of industrialized image-making. The labor-intensive process of engraving contrasts sharply with the relative ease with which prints could be reproduced and distributed. Schedel's print invites us to consider the relationship between craft, art, and the emerging world of mass production.