Portret van een predikant, mogelijk Jacobus Groeneveld 1788 - 1837

This portrait of a preacher, possibly Jacobus Groeneveld, was created by Charles Howard Hodges, likely in the late 18th or early 19th century. It is made with the technique of mezzotint, a printmaking process in which a copper or steel plate is systematically roughened, then selectively burnished smooth to create an image. Mezzotint, literally meaning "half-tone", was prized for its ability to produce rich tonal gradations and velvety blacks. But it was incredibly laborious. First, the entire plate had to be worked over with a tool called a "rocker," creating a dense network of tiny burrs. The printmaker would then scrape and polish areas of the plate to varying degrees, creating the lighter tones. The labor is what you're seeing. Hodges, who was renowned for his skill in this medium, would have understood how this process could be used to suggest character. The soft, diffused light and shadow lend the sitter a sense of gravitas. The time involved in the production also elevated the status of the sitter. By attending to materials and making, we can understand this portrait not just as a representation of an individual, but as an object imbued with social and cultural significance.