Orvieto Roofs 1926

William Evan Charles Morgan made this etching, called "Orvieto Roofs", in 1926. It’s a real maze of lines, isn't it? The whole thing is built up from these tiny hatched marks, a bit like how you might build a city from bricks. I find myself getting lost in the detail, but then pulled back by the bigger shapes of the roofs and buildings. Look how the surface almost vibrates. There's this one dark patch, on the cliff face to the left, where the lines are really dense and chaotic. It’s like a little storm of ink. That area, for me, holds the key to the whole piece. It's like the artist is saying, “Here’s where the energy is, where the mess of the world comes together.” Morgan's process reminds me a little of Piranesi, another printmaker who loved getting lost in architectural details. It’s that sense of endlessness, the feeling that the image could keep going forever. It is really just such a wonderful conversation across time.