Geseling van Christus c. 1650 - 1699

This print, "Geseling van Christus," or "The Whipping of Christ," was made by Lucio Bononi, using a technique called etching. In etching, a metal plate is covered with a waxy, acid-resistant ground. The artist then scratches an image into this ground with a needle, exposing the metal underneath. The plate is then immersed in acid, which bites into the exposed lines, creating grooves. The deeper the grooves, the more ink they will hold. This kind of printmaking is incredibly labor intensive. It requires planning, precision, and physical strength. The very act of drawing with a needle on metal, and the patient dipping of the plate into acid, is a concentrated performance. Prints like these were relatively inexpensive, which meant that the drama of Bononi's composition could reach a wide audience. The image, so directly rendered, gains even more intensity when we consider the careful labor that went into its making. It reminds us that what may seem like an effortless image is, in fact, the result of many hours of skilled work.