Portret van mevrouw Cabben 1770

This is Valentine Green's "Portrait of Mrs. Cabben," a mezzotint print. The mezzotint is an intaglio printmaking process which relies on mechanical, rather than chemical, means. The plate would have been roughened using a tool called a rocker, then smoothed in areas to create the image. This painstaking process demanded intense labor and skill. Looking at the portrait itself, we see Mrs. Cabben’s soft drapery, rendered in a way that echoes the smoothing action performed by the artist. The texture of the mezzotint gives her skin a subtle glow. It is a world away from a quick sketch, and speaks to the rising commercial power of portraiture in 18th-century England. What might seem like a straightforward depiction of beauty is, in fact, the product of a highly developed industrial technique, intended for mass consumption. By appreciating the labor involved, we can expand our understanding of how art, craft, and commerce intersect.