Wonderbaarlijke vermenigvuldiging van de zeven broden en de twee vissen 1728

This etching, "Wonderbaarlijke vermenigvuldiging van de zeven broden en de twee vissen," meaning "Miraculous multiplication of the seven loaves and two fish" was made by Gilliam van der Gouwen around the 18th century. It is a print, made using the intaglio process, where lines are incised into a metal plate, and then filled with ink to create an image on paper. Consider the labor involved in producing this image. Each line was carefully carved with a burin, a handheld steel tool. The matrix would have to be re-inked and wiped for every impression. The fine level of detail speaks to Van der Gouwen’s immense technical skill and artistic vision. Van der Gouwen has taken the time to meticulously reproduce the world around him through the labor intensive process of etching. A relatively inexpensive print such as this one would have made images accessible to a wider audience. This illustrates how the making of art can reflect and shape social structures, bridging the gap between the sacred and the everyday.