Man met doedelzak en kind met fluit 1629 - 1670

Jacques Dassonville created this tiny etching of a piper and child with flute sometime in the mid-17th century. Etching is an indirect process. The artist would have covered a metal plate with a waxy ground, then scratched away lines to expose the metal. Acid then bites into these exposed lines, creating the image, which is then printed. Look closely, and you’ll see how Dassonville's hand guided the etching needle, creating a network of lines, cross-hatching, and dots. The rough and ready aesthetic feels folksy, just like its subject. The scene feels immediate, as if the musicians were observed in a fleeting moment. Etchings like these were luxury commodities, produced through the skilled labor of draftspeople, printers, and publishers. They are intimately tied to the rise of mercantile capitalism, and a growing market for images. This artwork, therefore, asks us to think about the relationships between high and low, art and craft, and how these categories have played out across history.