The woodcut Minerva and Mercurio (Inventory No. 10558) at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) represents a printer's mark associated with Jan van Meurs, a significant figure in Antwerp's printing industry during the early modern period when the city was one of Europe's most important publishing centres.

This printer's mark features two classical deities: Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom, crafts, and strategic warfare (equivalent to the Greek Athena), appears on the left, while Mercury, messenger of the gods and patron of commerce, communication, and eloquence (Greek Hermes), is depicted on the right. The choice of these particular deities for a printer's mark is significant, as they represent the intellectual and commercial aspects of the printing trade during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

The woodcut is attributed to Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), the foremost Flemish Baroque painter whose influence extended beyond painting to design work for various media, including book illustrations and prints. Rubens frequently incorporated classical references in his work, reflecting the humanist education and values prevalent among cultural elites of the period.

Printer's marks functioned similarly to modern logos, identifying the origin of books and establishing brand recognition in the early modern book trade. The use of mythological figures in these marks reflects the Renaissance interest in classical antiquity and demonstrates how printers positioned themselves as disseminators of learning and culture, not merely commercial producers.

This particular woodcut exemplifies the intersection of commercial practice, artistic craftsmanship, and classical learning that characterised elite print culture in 17th-century Antwerp, offering insight into how mythology permeated even the practical aspects of knowledge production and dissemination.