Jan van der Straet worked across a range of mediums but was particularly well known as a prolific designer of prints on a wide range of subjects. He drew this scene for Nova Reperta, a series of engravings describing important inventions and discoveries of the modern era. The engravings were made in Antwerp, a center of printmaking at the time, in the workshop of Philip Galle. The image shows the importance of gunpowder: from the making of canons in a busy forge to the destructive use of the explosive in war.