The Leper ("Lazarus Klep") c. 1629

Editor: Here we have Rembrandt van Rijn's etching, "The Leper," created around 1629. The subject matter and the artist’s use of line to render this figure, gives a sombre mood, with all these thin etched lines in ink on paper... What jumps out at you when you look at this, how do you read this work? Curator: Immediately, I consider the etcher's craft. We need to think about the materials, the copper plate, the acids used for biting the lines, and then the physical act of pulling the print. The "original" isn't some singular, untouchable artwork. It's the *process* of making prints. Consider, also, the conditions of artistic production: What afforded Rembrandt this process? Who bought it? How did printmaking help him build and scale up his artistic workshop? Editor: That's a good point. It isn't a singular painting on a canvas. The printmaking process implies dissemination and wider access, but, thinking of his other etchings, there is also an interesting market with connoisseurs who appreciate the manual labor in fine details in etchings. So, how might the etching medium have influenced Rembrandt’s subject choices? Curator: It made possible portraying marginalized figures like this Leper to a wider audience. Consider the economic position of a leper in 17th-century Amsterdam. Were these prints potentially contributing to any sort of social change, even if subtle, by making this subject and his situation a little bit more well known, via these distributed etchings? Editor: Right, maybe prompting viewers to reflect on societal hierarchies, and the status of art making itself, and the possibility for mass distribution. It's much to consider in this print! Curator: Indeed, viewing with the understanding of labor is enlightening.