Piazza del Collegio Romano te Rome 1665

This print, made by Giovanni Battista Falda, depicts the Piazza del Collegio Romano in Rome. It’s made using etching, a printmaking technique with a fascinating relationship to labor. The artist coats a metal plate with a waxy, acid-resistant substance, then draws through this coating with a sharp needle. Where the metal is exposed, acid bites into it, creating an incised line. The plate is then inked and printed, transferring the image to paper. The beauty of etching lies in its directness. The artist’s hand is literally inscribed into the metal. Yet, there is also a distance involved; the acid does the final work of cutting the line. The soft wax allows for fluid lines and tonal effects, built up through careful cross-hatching. The technique democratized printmaking, enabling a wider range of artists to reproduce and disseminate their images. Looking at this print, we can appreciate not only Falda’s skill but also the complex interplay of hand and machine, labor and capital, inherent in the etching process itself. It reminds us that all art is, in some way, a product of its time.