Portret van Gabriel Schütz 1668

This is Johann Friedrich Leonard’s portrait of Gabriel Schütz, dating from around the 17th century, made using engraving. Engraving is a printmaking technique that depends on the application of intense pressure to impress an image on paper. This particular example would have required Leonard to painstakingly carve lines into a metal plate, probably copper, using a tool called a burin. The density of the marks creates the illusion of tone, modelling Schütz’s face and clothes. Notice the fine detail around the face and hair – that would have taken a lot of effort, and a mastery of the medium. Engravings like this were essentially a form of mass production, creating multiples of an original image. This made portraiture available to a broader public, connecting art to the world of commerce and consumption. The image speaks to the labour and the economic forces that shaped it. Next time you look at a print, think about the labour involved, and how materials and making are essential to understanding its meaning.