First Day: The Creation of Heaven and Earth, from The Creation to the Expulsion from Paradise

Art Historical Context

Behold *First Day: The Creation Heaven and Earth*, a delicate engraving by Flemish artist Nicolaes de Bruyn, created around 1610. This intimate print, part of his series *The Creation to the Exp from Paradise*, captures the moment from Genesis when God separates light from darkness on the first day. De Bruyn, a master engraver active in Antwerp during the early Baroque era, was renowned for his intricate reproductive prints that brought religious narratives to a wide audience through affordable multiples. Crafted on luxurious ivory laid paper—a fine, early European sheet with visible chain lines that enhanced print clarity—the plate measures just 13.6 × 12.6 cm, making it a pocket-sized marvel of precision. Engraving technique allowed de Bruyn to etch fine lines into a copper plate, producing rich tonal contrasts and detailed textures that evoke divine chaos yielding to cosmic order. Such prints were vital in the Counter-Reformation age, disseminating Catholic imagery amid religious tensions in the Netherlands. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and Drawings Department, this work exemplifies how 17th-century printmaking democratized art, blending technical virtuosity with profound spiritual themes for homes and devotees alike.

About the Artist

Nicolaes de Bruyn · 1571–1656

Nicolaes de Bruyn was a Flemish printmaker born in Antwerp in 1571, active during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and known primarily for his large, elaborately detailed engravings of landscapes, hunting scenes, and biblical and mythological subjects. He trained in the tradition of Flemish reproductive engraving and was deeply influenced by the work of his contemporaries and pre...