Gezicht op een kerk met een plein by Isaac Weissenbruch

Gezicht op een kerk met een plein

1836 - 1912

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Artwork details

Medium
print, engraving, architecture
Dimensions
height 105 mm, width 147 mm
Location
Rijksmuseum
Copyright
Rijks Museum: Open Domain

Tags

#medieval#print#cityscape#northern-renaissance#engraving#architecture#realism

About this artwork

Isaac Weissenbruch made this print of a church with a square using etching, a printmaking technique dependent on acid. The artist would have coated a metal plate with a waxy, acid-resistant substance, then scratched an image into it with a needle, exposing the metal. Dipping the plate in acid would then bite away the exposed lines, creating grooves. The deeper the grooves, the more ink they would hold, and the darker they would appear in the print. Weissenbruch would have then inked the plate, wiped away the excess, and pressed paper against it, transferring the image. The resulting print is valued for its fine lines and subtle tonal variations. Consider that, while Weissenbruch was a skilled etcher, the labor was deeply collaborative. Metalworkers would have prepared the plate, and printers would have run off potentially hundreds of impressions. Understanding this division of labor is crucial to seeing the print for what it is: a material record of social cooperation.

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