Visual Acuity and the Arts of Communication in Early Modern Germany

During the early modern period, visual imagery was put to ever new uses as many disciplines adopted visual criteria for testing truth claims, representing knowledge, or conveying information. Religious propagandists, political writers, satirists, cartographers, the scientific community, and others experimented with uses of visual images. Artists, writers, preachers and musicians, among others, often employed visual images to connect with their audiences. Contributors to this interdisciplinary collection explore how the exponential growth in images, especially prints, impacted the intellectual horizons and the visual awareness of viewers in early modern Germany.