The Invention of Copper Engraving, from Nova Reperta

c. 1591

Engraving in black on ivory laid paper

20.2 × 27.3 cm (8 × 10.7 in)

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Not currently on view

In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Joannes Stradanus’s image of an intaglio print shop includes plate engravers, roller-press printers, and fresh impressions drying on ropes in the background. The legend Sculptura in Aes implies that the engraving is being done on copper plates. The print is the nineteenth image in the artist’s New Discoveries series, which also included the European arrival in the Americas and the invention of book printing.

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