Old illustrations, such as maps, photographs, and other visual material, must be interpreted and not just looked at. Illustrations contain much surface information: how ancient humans hunted, how Polish peasants worked the land in the nineteenth century, what Simón Bolívar looked like. But like all visual material from the past, old illustrations need to be understood as expressions of their times.

FOR EXAMPLE: Simón Bolívar is considered by many to have been the liberator of Latin America from Spanish colonial rule. Pictures and drawings of Bolívar by Latin American artists almost always show him in a heroic pose. Would you expect most Spanish illustrators to have drawn Bolívar this way?

Take note of the information on the surface of an old illustration, and it will help you visualize that older world. But be sure to see what it says about the attitude of the artist toward the subject. An artist speaks through his or her illustrations, and it is important to be able to hear that voice as well as see the surface of the work.