Moeder met slapend kind voor het raam 1756 - 1817

This is an etching, made by Louis Bernard Coclers in the late 18th century. To create this kind of print, the artist would have coated a metal plate with wax, and then scratched an image into it with a fine needle, exposing the metal. The plate was then immersed in acid, which bit into the lines, creating grooves. Finally, ink was applied to the plate, pushed into the grooves, and the surface wiped clean, so that the image could be transferred to paper under great pressure. In this instance, Coclers has used the etching process to depict an intimate scene of a mother and child. Through the very particular qualities of the etched line, we can observe the quiet, domestic atmosphere of the room and the tender embrace between mother and child. The choice of etching as a medium is significant: its relative ease and capacity for fine detail allowed artists to reproduce images quickly and efficiently, catering to a growing market for prints among the middle classes. This print demonstrates the power of the medium to capture nuanced observation of everyday life, making it accessible to a wider audience.