Kirsten Bille, gift med Otto Skeel 1705

This print of Kirsten Bille, married to Otto Skeel, was made by Johan Friedlein. Friedlein used the technique of engraving, carving lines into a metal plate with a tool called a burin. Ink is then applied to the plate, filling the lines, and the excess is wiped away before the print is made. The pressure of the printing press forces the paper into the inked lines, transferring the image. Engraving allowed for fine detail, and the dense network of lines creates tone and shading. Look closely, and you can see the tremendous labor involved in producing such a print. It was not only a means of artistic expression, but also a commercial process, a way of reproducing images for a wider audience. Prints like this one circulated widely, and are documents of social and political status in early modern Europe. Consider the hierarchies present in the image, and those that are part of the printmaking process. Appreciating the labor, the material, and the context gives us a richer understanding of its meaning.