Cavaleriegevecht met Oosterse ruiters met pijl en boog 1700 - 1800

This print, *Cavalry Battle with Eastern Riders with Bow and Arrow* by Johannes Verhoek, is made from etching, a printmaking process that relies on acid to incise lines into a metal plate, which is then inked and printed onto paper. Etching is an indirect intaglio process, demanding careful skill, where the artist applies a waxy, acid-resistant ground to the plate, draws through it to expose the metal, and then immerses the plate in acid. The longer the plate is exposed, the deeper the lines become. The dense and fine linework captures the frenetic energy of battle with skilled labor that speaks to the rise of printmaking as a crucial means of reproducing images and disseminating information. The physical act of etching, with its reliance on precision, transforms a scene of conflict into a commodity, highlighting the complex relationship between art, labor, and commerce. It makes you wonder about the politics of the image, and how it was circulated in its own day.