Gezicht op de poort van Sint Denis 1652

This print of the Porte Saint-Denis in Paris was made by Israel Silvestre. It’s an etching, meaning that the artist would have covered a metal plate with a waxy ground, scratched an image into it with a needle, then bathed the plate in acid, which bites into the exposed metal lines. This process has a direct bearing on the image itself. Look closely, and you can see how Silvestre varied the marks to suggest light and shadow, distance and texture. He’s not just representing the gate; he’s using the etching process to create a mood, an atmosphere. What I find interesting is that although printmaking could be scaled up for mass production, in the 17th century it was still very much a craft-based activity. Silvestre would have been intimately involved in every stage of the process, from preparing the plate to pulling the prints. This hands-on approach gives the image a unique quality, a sense of the artist's touch. It's a reminder that even in a world of increasing mechanization, the human element remains essential.