Mucius Scevola

The printmaker and publisher Andrea Andreani made several prints calling for over 40 blocks, including a lengthy classical frieze. He also acquired older blocks and republished them with his own initials. The present woodcut required two blocks—an abstract tone block and a linear key block in black printed on top of it to consolidate the image. This popular subject after Baldassare Peruzzi shows a legendary Roman hero, Mucius Scevela, who, upon being caught during an attempt to assassinate the Etruscan king Lars Porsenna, thrust his hand into a fire to demonstrate his bravery and resistance to torture.