Titelprent voor 'Den Arbeid van Mars' van Allain Manesson Mallet 1672

This is Romeyn de Hooghe’s title print for Allain Manesson Mallet's book, ‘The Labours of Mars’. The print was made using the technique of etching. This involves coating a metal plate with wax, scratching an image into it, and then submerging the plate in acid. The exposed lines are eaten away, and the plate can then be inked and printed. Notice the incredible level of detail, particularly in the lower portion. Here, de Hooghe depicts figures laboring, constructing fortifications in service of Mars, the god of war. The figures are presented as muscular and engaged, their faces obscured. The print itself, like the scene it represents, involved labor. De Hooghe would have worked carefully and methodically, displaying not only artistic vision but also tremendous skill. In his choice of subject and process, de Hooghe challenges any easy separation of artistic vision from the world of work, and suggests that both are intertwined. The print gives us insight into 17th-century Dutch society, its values, and its relationship to labor and conflict.