Portret van kardinaal Girolamo Boncompagni

Conrad Lauwers made this print of Cardinal Girolamo Boncompagni, likely on a copper plate, sometime in the 17th century. Engraving is a process of pure mark-making. The artist carves lines directly into the plate with a tool called a burin. These lines, and the delicate network of hatching, create the image. The strength of an engraving lies in this directness, a quality entirely different than drawing. Every mark is decisive. Though a print like this one seems conventional now, it was once at the leading edge of reproducible imagery. The relatively small size of the print suggests that it was likely bound into a book, perhaps for devotional purposes, or to promote the status of the sitter. Consider how many of these images could be made, distributed, and consumed. Looking closely at the material qualities and the making process of the artwork, gives a more nuanced understanding of the social and cultural meanings it embodies.