Skating Competition for Woman in Leeuwarden, 1805 1805 - 1807

Jacob Ernst Marcus created this print of a skating competition for women in Leeuwarden in 1805, a lively scene rendered with delicate lines. The printmaking process itself is crucial here. The fine, precise lines suggest etching, or perhaps engraving. Either way, this would have been a laborious process, requiring intense concentration and skill. The image’s detail belies the extensive labor involved; consider, for example, the many tiny lines describing the bare winter trees. This attention to detail speaks to the social context, too. The skating competition was clearly an important civic event, worthy of careful documentation. While the print’s neat lines and ordered composition might seem far removed from the messy reality of a crowd on a frozen canal, they reflect the values of the time: a desire for order, precision, and control, qualities that printmaking, with its reproducible exactitude, can surely provide. So, consider how the careful process of making this print lends a sense of decorum to the depiction of a lively public event.