Modelling the (Inter)national Printmaking Networks of Early Modern Europe Matthew Lincoln University of Maryland @matthewdlincoln July 1, 2015 Digital Humanities 2015
Hendrick Goltzius after Bartholomeus Spranger, The Wedding of Cupid and Pysche, 1587. National Gallery of Art. Simon Frisius after Matthijs Bril, published by Hendrick Hondius, Topographia Variarum Regiorum, 1614. British Museum.
Publisher Designer Engraver “Sculptura in Æs”, from Johannes Stradanus’ Nova Reperta. Published by Philips Galle, c. 1588-1605. British Museum, London.
British Museum collections LOD: collection.britishmuseum.org Between 1500-1750: • 49,306 prints • 3,592 nodes: distinct designers, printmakers, and publishers • 76,697 edges: connections inferred from co-participation in an object Mining the museum for data @matthewdlincoln
@matthewdlincoln 1. Create a set of subgraphs based on a rolling 10-year window: • e.g. the 1640 subgraph contains only edges and nodes extant between 1635 and 1645 • Edges (prints) exist between the start and end dates ascribed to an object o Edges are unweighted to avoid biasing edge strength based on the number of impressions that survived into this one collection. • Nodes (artists) exist during their life dates (complicated!) 2. For each subgraph, calculate network metrics at the global, regional/ national, and individual scale Dynamic network analysis
ε = ne − ni ne +ni Group-external/group-internal index Krackhardt, David, and Robert N. Stern. “Informal Networks and Organizational Crises: An Experimental Simulation.” Social Psychology Quarterly 51, no. 2 (June 1, 1988): 123–40. doi:10.2307/2786835. ɛ > 0 Majority external connections ɛ = 0 Even split ɛ < 0 Majority internal connections @matthewdlincoln ne = links made by nodes of one group to nodes outside that group ni = links made by nodes of one group to nodes of the same group
received sent 0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1500 1600 1700 Ratio of all connections sent/received Dutch French English Flemish Italian German German Italian Flemish Dutch English French @matthewdlincoln
Future Directions • More network metrics to explore, e.g. graph centrality, blockmodelling • Simulation: ABM to evaluate historical hypotheses • Augmented data models… @matthewdlincoln
@matthewdlincoln Process Residuals Impressions Preparatory Materials Latest plate (possibly extant!) Earlier States Drawings Paintings Other prints Privileges Dedications Inscriptions Decorative frames Series Proofs