The Functions of Texts in Printed Images: Text and Image in Reproductive Prints by Hieronymus Cock, Antonio Salamanca, and Antonio Lafreri

Abstract

This thesis provides a systematic analysis of textual frameworks in reproductive prints issued by three sixteenth-century publishers. The main purpose is to highlight the role of additional texts in the process of transmitting images by significant artists to a wide circle of audiences. The analysis of the relation between text and image in single-sheet prints helps to reconsider the historical function of reproductive prints by introducing a point of view that is different from earlier scholarship. I argue that textual commentaries attached to printed images were intended to take part in the art theoretical discourse of their time. Inscriptions contextualised artistic achievements and helped to form the viewer’s response to the image by commenting on the artistic significance of the picture or on the excellence of the artist. The analysis of additional texts reveals the artistic and historical consciousness inherent in the prints, especially in the case of the sheets published by Hieronymus Cock. Hence, my thesis demonstrates the special role of prints in the northern art theoretical context. The present study also considers the role of prints beyond their artistic use. The “utilitarian” function of prints is explored through case studies. The connection between the culture of love and prints is examined in the chapter on Antonio Salamanca. Examples by Hieronymus Cock and Antonio Lafreri provide a comparative perspective on religious prints in the era of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. Through the case studies, my thesis points out how the historical context influenced the selection of quotations or the commission of contemporary texts, and touches upon the importance of the collaboration between humanists (art theoreticians and poets) and the protagonists of the print world. The comparative European perspective highlights the specific and general characteristics of the inscribed texts in the prints from Antwerp and Rome. While previous scholarship emphasised the model role of the Roman publishers, this thesis nuances the picture with the hypothesis of mutual exchange between Lafreri and Cock, indicating the correlation among prints produced for the common European market.