Vaas met een sater staand in een landschap 1764

This is an etching by Benigno Bossi, depicting a vase with a satyr standing in a landscape. The printmaking process is front and center here. Etching involves coating a metal plate with a waxy ground, then drawing through it with a needle to expose the metal. When the plate is immersed in acid, the exposed lines are bitten, creating grooves. Ink is then applied, the surface wiped clean, and the print pulled. The resulting image bears the marks of this chemical and mechanical process, allowing for fine detail and subtle tonal variations. Bossi was a court artist, and this print is clearly intended to evoke classical antiquity. The etched lines mimic the precision of an engraver's burin, yet also possess a freedom of line. The subject matter is important: a vase, the sort of luxurious object that would have been collected by the wealthy, and which Bossi, as a court artist, was bound to represent. This print raises questions about the relationship between original and reproduction, and how value is assigned to objects through skilled labor.