Optimmeren van het schip van alle zijden 1717 - 1732

Pieter van den Berge created this engraving, ‘Optimmeren van het schip van alle zijden’, which translates to ‘Optimizing the ship from all sides,’ sometime in the late 17th or early 18th century. The process of engraving is crucial to understanding this image. Van den Berge would have used a sharp tool, a burin, to carve lines into a copper plate. Ink is then applied to the plate, filling the etched lines, and the surface is wiped clean. When paper is pressed against the plate, the ink transfers, creating a reversed image of the original design. The lines in the print are crisp and precise, allowing for a high level of detail in the depiction of the ship, the surrounding buildings, and the workers engaged in its construction. The print provides insight into the labor involved in shipbuilding during the Dutch Golden Age. The labor-intensive nature of both engraving and shipbuilding highlights the economic and social structures of the time, where skilled craftsmanship was essential to maritime trade and naval power. By focusing on the materials, making, and context of this engraving, we can appreciate the intersection of art, craft, and industry in the 17th and 18th centuries.