ABSTRACT
Fertile and even prodigal as nature may be, it has not invented everything.
Paul Valéry, “Address to the Society of Engravers”2
When Vredeman cited “copper engravings” as testament to his architectural qualifica-
tions, he was not myopically overestimating his own ability. Rather, he summarized the
changing role printed images had come to play in the practice of building over the course
of the sixteenth century. Print was not the only kind of repeatable image in Vredeman’s
day. Yet print publishers were unique in the energy they devoted to the charting of
different futures for their author’s initial designs. In the Netherlands the interests
of engravers, draughtsmen, and even dealers frequently clashed. This was particularly
problematic for images of the built environment, the kind of work this chapter will
examine. On the one hand, “independent” architecture appeared to early modern
viewers to have many potential subjects (perspective, ornament, printmaking itself), and,
on the other, no subject at all.
