The Orthopedist (plate 9) 1843

This lithograph, "The Orthopedist," was created by Charles Jacque sometime in the 19th century. Lithography is a printing process that relies on the chemical repulsion of oil and water. The artist would have drawn his composition onto a stone or metal plate with a greasy crayon, then treated the surface to make the drawn areas accept ink and the undrawn areas repel it. Looking closely, we can see the subtle gradations of tone and fine lines that are characteristic of this printmaking technique. But the material also adds social significance here. Lithography democratized image production. The humor of the image relies on the artist's skilled hand, but also a process rooted in mass production, hinting at the changing landscape of labor, class, and consumption in 19th-century France. It blurs the lines between traditional fine art and the emerging world of commercial reproduction.