Meeting of the Hunters 1849 - 1863

Henri-Charles-Antoine Baron created "Meeting of the Hunters" as a print on paper. The visual effect relies on the build-up of thousands of tiny etched lines. Think of the labor involved in creating this image. The artist would have painstakingly carved the composition into a metal plate, line by line, using specialized tools to achieve the subtle gradations of light and shadow we see here. The act of etching is a highly skilled craft, demanding precision, control, and an intimate understanding of the materials. The printmaking process also allowed for the image to be reproduced and disseminated widely, influencing popular taste. In this work we can see how the fine arts and craft traditions intersect to produce artworks with great social and cultural significance.