Gezicht op de Heezenpoort in Doetinchem 1800

This print, "Gezicht op de Heezenpoort in Doetinchem," was made by Ernst Willem Jan Bagelaar, likely in the early 19th century. It's an etching, meaning the artist would have used a sharp needle to draw into a wax-covered metal plate. The plate is then bathed in acid, which bites away the exposed lines, allowing it to hold ink for printing. Look closely at the architecture and landscape. The relatively fine lines of the etching process allow for intricate details, from the texture of the clouds to the brickwork of the Heezenpoort. Bagelaar skillfully uses hatching and cross-hatching to create tonal variation, giving depth and volume to the scene. Etching was a favored technique among artists of this period, enabling the relatively easy reproduction of images. In this way, prints like this one played a key role in disseminating information about far-flung places. The making process thus has imbued this print with a sense of social and cultural history. It invites us to reflect on how places were viewed, valued, and distributed in an era before photography.