Skip to content Accessibility statement
Home>Calendar of events>Printed Portraits and the Scientific Revolution
  • Date and time: Thursday 11 June 2026, 6pm to 8pm
  • Location: In-person only
    Thin Ice Press: the York Centre for Print, Peasholme Green (Map)
  • Admission: Free admission, booking required

Book tickets

Event details

How do printed portraits depict the changing and expanding knowledge about nature in the 16th and 17th centuries? Discover the portraits of early modern astronomers, anatomists and natural historians and find out the stories behind the prints with Irina Tautschnig of the University of York.

The origins of modern science are often traced back to the so-called ‘scientific revolution’ of the 16th and 17th centuries. Learn about the vital role printmaking had in visualising scientific knowledge and shaping scientific identities. Come face to face with iconic men and women engaged in the study of nature, from the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus to the entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian.

Discover how printed portraits were made and explore the dynamic relationship between the image and the surrounding or embedded text to communicate the work of the sitter. Join in a portrait printing activity and take home a keepsake of the event.

Be sure not to miss the accompanying exhibition which is available to view Fridays to Mondays, 10am to 5pm and Thursdays 1pm to 8pm

This event is presented by Thin Ice Press: the York Centre for Print. Look out for their regular programme of workshops, events and exhibitions.

Image credit: Portrait of anatomist Andreas Vesalius attributed to John of Calcar (John Stephen Calcar) from The Met Collection.

About the speaker

Irina Tautschnig is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of English and Related Literature at the University of York. She specialises in early modern Latin and Greek poetry. At York, she works on the research project Scientific Poetry and Poetics from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, editing and translating Neo-Latin verse on comets, microscopes, rainbows, electric sparks and other interesting things for the first anthology of scientific poetry between the 16th and 18th centuries.

Partners

Thin Ice Press

Venue details

  • Wheelchair accessible