Printing and Visual Culture in Italy, 1470-1575

This dissertation examines the relationship of printmaking, in the first century after its development in Europe, to the culture of Italy in that period. The first uses of prints point to changes in artisanal, courtly, technical, educational, linguistic and devotional conventions of Italian life. I locate printed images in a historical framework discussing them as cultural artifacts, which reveals structures of employment, changing conceptions of artistic practice and style, and an understanding of the range printmaking offered for economic independence and social maneuvering.