Gezicht op een weg bij Cluses aan de Arve, Savoie 1688 - 1721

This is a print made by Jan Vincentsz van der Vinne, probably sometime in the late 17th or early 18th century. It's made using etching, a printmaking technique which involves drawing an image into a prepared ground on a metal plate, then using acid to bite the exposed lines. The real skill in etching lies in controlling the depth and width of these lines, and Van der Vinne has done that very effectively here. Notice how he's used a tight, dense network of marks to create deep shadows, and more widely spaced lines to suggest highlights and atmospheric perspective. It's an industrial process, really, not unlike contemporary methods of mass production. And that brings us to the scene itself, which depicts everyday labor. We see figures driving livestock down a country road, their workaday existence made newly visible through the industrialized medium of print. In this way, Van der Vinne's print embodies the convergence of labor, landscape, and the burgeoning forces of capitalism in early modern Europe. It challenges traditional distinctions between fine art and craft.