Portret van Stephan Franz Viktor, aartshertog van Oostenrijk 1844

This portrait of Stephan Franz Viktor, Archduke of Austria, was made by Carl Mayer using engraving, a printmaking technique reliant on the precision of line. Look closely at the rendering of the Archduke’s face, the shading of his coat. The lines you see were carefully incised into a metal plate. Ink would have been applied to the plate, then wiped clean, leaving ink only in the incised lines. The plate was then pressed onto paper, transferring the image. The engraver’s skill was crucial. It took time and practice to master the burin, the tool used to cut the lines. But this labor-intensive process allowed for the relatively quick reproduction of images, playing a key role in circulating images of power and prestige. Mayer’s print, therefore, speaks not only to the Archduke’s status, but also to the increasingly industrialized culture of image-making in the 19th century. It reminds us that even seemingly straightforward portraits are the product of skilled work and technologies of production.