1600s Art

How hard life must have been in the 17th century? Think of all of the things you treasure and then think of how few of them would have been available to the average person in the 1600s. Would they have been available at all, at any price? To own a book must have been like something magical. Handmade paper, ink and engravings. It was the time of Galileo, John Milton (Paradise Lost), Rubens and Johann Sebastian Bach. It must have been an exciting time of discovery and exploration.

Gutenberg had invented European movable type in 1439. It revolutionized the way printing was done. By the 1600s, there were printing houses and even the first publishing companies.

Here on Reusable Art, we celebrate thousands of vintage, public domain images. But, there’s something special when thinking about 1600s art. What stories the pieces could tell, if only they could talk. Where have they traveled? Who held their pages in their hands? What historical moments may they have witnessed. OK, can you tell I am intrigued with working with vintage art this old?

Anyway, if you are looking for the most vintage of the vintage images, this might be a good place to start.