Allegorie op de verheffing van Willem IV, 1747 1747

This engraving, Allegorie op de verheffing van Willem IV, was created by Jan (II) Smit in 1747. As a print, it belongs to a world of multiples, and readily disseminated imagery. The key here is the technique of engraving. The artist would have used a tool called a burin to carve lines directly into a copper plate. Ink is then forced into these lines, and the image transferred to paper under high pressure. This is quite different from drawing, where the artist works on the surface of the paper itself. Here, there’s an intermediary – the metal plate – which allows for the creation of many identical images. Consider the labor involved: not just Smit’s, but that of the printer, and the person who would have distributed this widely. This was all in service of promoting William IV, whose image and symbols are all over this elaborate composition. Making this print an overt political statement. The production process, and the political message, are completely entwined. The one amplifies the other.