Sculptura in Aes, The Workshop of an Engraver (c. 1591): Art, History and Details

Sculptura in Aes, The Workshop of an Engraver (c. 1591) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Jan van der Straet, called Johannes Stradanus (Netherlandish, active Italy, 1523–1605); Philip Galle (Flemish, 1537–1612).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This engraving, made in 1591, is an important document of the printmaking process in the 1500s. The artist Johannes Stradanus portrayed the stages of making an engraving from right to left. First, the engraver carved the plate; then, it was inked and wiped. One man is shown pulling a plate from an acid bath (illustrating the etching process). Finally, the inked plate was printed on a large roller press. The finished prints were hung to dry. The engraving was one of a series of prints Stradanus made that documented important inventions of the period, ranging from the eyeglass, to distillation, to gunpowder.

Object facts

• Title: Sculptura in Aes, The Workshop of an Engraver
• Date: c. 1591
• Creator attribution: Jan van der Straet, called Johannes Stradanus (Netherlandish, active Italy, 1523–1605); Philip Galle (Flemish, 1537–1612)
• Culture: Flanders
• Type: Print
• Technique: engraving on antique laid paper
• Dimensions: Plate: 20.3 x 27.3 cm (8 x 10 3/4 in.); Sheet: 28.7 x 35.6 cm (11 5/16 x 14 in.)
• Collection: PR - Etching
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 2019.33

A detail from the museum

This engraving illustrates the process of making an engraving in the late 1500s, from carving the plate to inking and printing.

Collection credit

The A. W. Ellenberger, Sr., Endowment Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Veldman, Ilja M., Ger Luijten, and F. W. H. Hollstein. The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, 1450-1700. 1993.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.