St. John 1615 - 1642

Pierre Brebiette created this print of St. John sometime in the early 17th century, using etching on paper. Here, the material itself, a simple sheet of paper, bears the marks of a highly skilled process. Etching involves drawing with a needle on a coated metal plate, which is then bathed in acid to bite the lines. This precisely controlled erosion gives the print its characteristic fine detail and tonal range, visible in the saint’s robes and the surrounding clouds. Brebiette, in his time, was one of the finest printmakers and draftsmen in France. The etching process also allowed for multiples of the image, making art more accessible beyond the elite. This connects to broader shifts in art production, where craft skills were increasingly part of a system geared towards wider consumption. This print therefore reflects not just artistic skill, but also a changing social context for art making.