Rustende reizigers voor een dorp c. 1636 - 1640

Sebastien Bourdon created this etching, "Resting Travelers Before a Village," using a metal plate, likely copper, and acid. The process involves coating the plate with wax, then scratching an image into the wax, exposing the metal. Immersing the plate in acid etches the lines. The plate is then inked, and the surface wiped clean, leaving ink only in the etched lines. Finally, it’s pressed onto paper, transferring the image. Bourdon's lines are economical, but convey a range of textures, from the rough clothes of the travelers to the stonework of the village. Etching allows for subtleties not possible with engraving. The process is less physically demanding, but still requires skilled labor, and the use of specialized tools and materials. The print could then be reproduced for a wide audience. In this way, the materiality of the etching process—the specific ways of making—are inseparable from the work’s social and economic context. It’s a reminder that all art, even the most seemingly ethereal, is rooted in labor and production.