The Sorcerer Atlante Abducting Pinabello’s Lady c. 1635 - 1638

Nicolas Poussin made this etching, titled *The Sorcerer Atlante Abducting Pinabello’s Lady,* with metal plates and etching tools. The lines you see aren't drawn directly; they are the result of a chemical process. First, Poussin would have covered a metal plate with a waxy, acid-resistant substance, then he scratched an image into this coating with a needle. The plate was then immersed in acid, which bit into the metal where the coating had been removed. The longer the plate sat in the acid, the deeper the lines became. After removing the coating, the plate was inked and pressed onto paper, transferring the image. Look closely at the image and you can see the marks of this process, and how Poussin controlled the strength of the lines to give the scene depth and drama. The etching process was fairly new at this time, and aligns with a growing interest in reproducibility and wider accessibility of images. Thinking about this work in terms of its making helps us appreciate the work involved and the artist's skillful manipulation of the media, moving us beyond traditional ideas about ‘fine art’.