Jongetje zoent meisje 1785

This print, made by Mathias de Sallieth, features a boy kissing a girl, and would have been made using a copperplate etching with hand coloring. The fineness of the line suggests that the artist would have used very fine tools, which could incise the plate with precision, and allowed the artist to create a scene with incredible detail. De Sallieth would have manipulated acids to ‘bite’ into the plate, with areas protected by a resist to achieve varying depths of line. Once printed, someone, maybe even a child, would have applied color meticulously by hand. Prints like these were often made for popular consumption and collected into albums, offering a glimpse into the sentimental sensibilities of the time. By looking closely at the printmaking process, we can appreciate its status as both art and commodity, blurring the boundaries of traditional art history.