Illustration to the Tempest: Caliban, Ferdinand and Ariel 1836

Charles Gray made this engraving of Caliban, Ferdinand, and Ariel to illustrate Shakespeare’s *The Tempest*. The printmaking process is important here. An engraver uses a tool called a burin to carve lines into a metal plate. The plate is inked, then wiped clean, leaving ink only in the incised lines. When paper is pressed against the plate, the image transfers. This allows for multiple identical images to be made. Consider the social context of such a process. Printmaking allowed for images and information to be disseminated widely and cheaply in the 18th century. This engraving, with its intricate lines and details, would have made Shakespeare accessible to a wider audience, part of a larger phenomenon of cultural production and consumption. Gray’s choice of engraving speaks to the democratizing potential of art, challenging the traditional hierarchies between high art and popular culture.