Afslaan van de Franse aanval op Aardenburg, 1672 1672 - 1674

This print, "Afslaan van de Franse aanval op Aardenburg, 1672," now in the Rijksmuseum, was made by an anonymous artist. It likely utilized the etching process, where lines are incised into a metal plate, likely copper, with acid. Ink is then applied, and the surface wiped clean, leaving ink only in the etched lines. The plate is then pressed onto paper, transferring the image. Consider the labor involved in its production. From the skilled artisan creating the image, to the press operators printing potentially hundreds of impressions, each print represents hours of meticulous work. The resulting images would have been widely distributed, bringing news of contemporary events to a broad audience. This allowed the dissemination of images and information to become a burgeoning industry unto itself. So, even a seemingly straightforward historical depiction like this one has deep connections to the wider social and economic context in which it was made.