ARTH 81.03 The Viral Image: Early Modern Prints
The technology of print transformed the early modern world. Distant places, people, and things were suddenly thrust into view, allowing the armchair traveler to hold the world in their hands. New ideas, made material in paper and ink, ricocheted across the globe. But print posed an existential problem: it called into question some of the most basic assumptions around images and image making that had long governed visual culture. How does reproducibility challenge authenticity? How are authorship and ownership defined? This advanced study interrogates the rise of printed images between 1500 and 1800 and its enduring impact on artistic and architectural culture. Special attention will be paid to major figures in the history of European printmaking, including Albrecht Durer, Rembrandt, and Giovanni Battista Piranesi.