Gezicht op een deel van de tuinen van Huis ten Bosch after 1717

This print gives a view of the gardens of Huis ten Bosch, made by an anonymous artist. It’s an etching, which means the artist would have covered a copper plate with a waxy ground, drawn through the ground with a sharp needle, then bathed the plate in acid. The acid bites into the exposed lines, creating grooves that hold ink. Look closely at the textures: the precision of the architecture, the formality of the lawns, the contrast with the looser handling of the clouds. The garden itself is of course a work of intensive labor, maintained through constant toil. This print is a kind of advertisement for that effort, celebrating the taste and wealth of those who commissioned it. Prints like this were luxury items. While they could be reproduced in multiples, each one still required careful inking and pressing. Appreciating the craft of etching helps us see the artistry and expense behind such images.