Long before the photo op, political rulers were manipulating visual imagery to cultivate their authority and spread their ideology. Born just decades after Gutenberg, the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519) was, Larry Silver argues, the first ruler to exploit the propaganda power of printed [...]

Grand Scale brings to light rare surviving examples of mural-size prints--a Renaissance art form nearly lost from historical record. The most famous 16th-century woodcuts, engravings, and etchings were those done on an intimate scale. Yet artists also worked in another entire category of print produ[...]