Christ Before the People, from The Passion of Christ, plate 15 1664

Grégoire Huret created this print, “Christ Before the People,” using engraving techniques. Look closely, and you can see the extraordinary fineness of the lines, all incised into a copper plate. The process begins with a highly polished metal surface. The artist then uses a tool called a burin, which has a sharp angled point, to manually cut grooves into the plate. The depth and spacing of these lines dictate how much ink they will hold, and therefore the darkness of the printed line. After inking, the plate is pressed onto paper, transferring the image. Huret's mastery of this painstaking method is evident in the tonal range and detail achieved. Printmaking like this was labor intensive, requiring skilled artisans to produce multiple impressions. So we have to remember that this image, though ostensibly about religious suffering, is also about the exercise of craft. It represents hours of labor, and a whole social network of production and consumption. Appreciating the graphic qualities of this print also means recognizing the role of skilled labor in its creation, reminding us of the broader economic context in which art is made and circulated.