Throughout the 17th century, as printing techniques developed and as celebrated artists (such as Rubens, Rembrandt and Le Brun) turned to the less noble genre of engraving, the presence of visual images in the printed book became more common and more complex. While their role has traditionally been perceived as ornamental and illustrative, it is now well recognised that the image frequently carries didactic, epistemological, political and ideological resonances. Furthermore, far from ‘illustrating’ the text, the image frequently points to the silences of the written word: the dialogue between text and image is as much one of disharmony as of harmony.

Within the wide range of published engraved books (epic poetry, dramatic plays, medical treatises, moralist texts, histories, emblem books... ) this module will focus on printed plays and on a wide range of ‘prestige books’ (gallery books, royal entry books, festival books) which serve to glorify both the author and the subject matter. Through analysis of a number of these volumes, we will examine the mechanisms which underpin the fashioning and manipulation of both word and image, and analyse what light they throw on the early modern paradigm of representation.

Le Moyne, *La Gallerie des femmes fortes* (1647)

Félibien, *Relation de la feste de Versailles* (1668)

Racine, *Phèdre* (1677)

Royal entry texts of Marie de Médicis' exile

BA studies or equivalent.

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

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