Gendarmes à chavel / Gendarmen te paard / Artillerie à cheval / Kanonniers te paard 1833 - 1911

This print, titled "Gendarmes à cheval", was created by Brepols & Dierckx Zoon. It appears to be a lithograph, a printing technique that relies on the chemical repulsion between oil and water. The design is drawn on a stone or metal plate with a greasy substance, then inked. The ink adheres only to the drawing, which is then transferred to paper. Here, you can see the evenness of the lines and the flat, uniform color, typical characteristics of lithography. This technique allowed for the relatively quick reproduction of images, making them accessible to a wider audience. The subject matter - soldiers on horseback - likely had popular appeal. The print's creation would have involved a division of labor: the artist who created the image, the skilled lithographer who transferred it to the printing stone, and the press operators who produced the final prints. Considering the social context, this print reflects a growing interest in military imagery and perhaps even nationalistic sentiment. The materials and processes used, while seemingly simple, speak to a complex web of artistic skill, industrial production, and social values.