Flagship publications of the most powerful new institutions in early modern Rome used woodcut book illustration to persuade readers, communicate important information, and animate religious narratives.

Leonardo (d. 1612) and Girolama Parasole (d. 1622) carved illustrations for every publication genre of the period, from treatises on botany and antiquity to liturgical texts and how-to manuals. Their work gives us a window into often invisible aspects of making pictures and allows us to see the changing organization of work and family during a transformational period for the arts. 

About the presenter
Evelyn Lincoln is professor emerita of history of art and architecture and Italian studies at Brown University and Kress-Beinecke Professor at the National Gallery’s Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts for the 2025–2026 academic year.

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