Buste van Romeinse man 1624 - 1636

Claude Mellan made this print of a Roman man in the 17th century, using a technique called engraving. What’s fascinating about Mellan’s prints is the way he achieved tonal variation, not with cross-hatching as was typical, but with parallel lines of varying thickness and proximity. Look closely and you’ll see that the entire image is constructed from a single spiraling line emanating from the tip of the subject's nose, an effect that has been compared to the effect of a lathe-turned ivory. This was an incredibly labor-intensive and skill-demanding process. The process required absolute precision and control over the burin, the tool used to cut lines into the copper plate, and each line had to be carefully planned to create the illusion of volume and shadow. The result is a print of incredible clarity and detail, blurring the lines between mechanical reproduction and virtuoso craftsmanship, asking us to reconsider the value we place on both the image and the labor of its making.