Allegorie op het oude en nieuwe testament 1703

This allegory of the Old and New Testaments was etched by Romeyn de Hooghe, likely around the turn of the 18th century. As an etching, it relies on the subtle but forceful technique of incising lines into a metal plate, which then holds ink to transfer the image to paper. De Hooghe was a prolific printmaker, and in his time, this was an industrialized art form. Printmaking allowed for the relatively inexpensive production of images and the wide dissemination of ideas. The technique itself, with its reliance on skilled labor and mechanical reproduction, mirrors the societal shifts underway. The image presents an idealized female figure, but note the figures surrounding her: a diverse, subjugated group, perhaps reflective of the social stratifications and colonial realities of the time. The sharp lines of the etching, born from a process of controlled labor, bring to the fore questions of power, representation, and the circulation of knowledge. The material and the making speak volumes.