Figuren terugkerend van de markt bij een huis met waterput c. 1733 - 1762

Jean Moyreau made this print on paper, titled ‘Figures returning from the market by a house with a well’. The technique used here is etching, a printmaking process that relies on acid to ‘bite’ lines into a metal plate. The artist would have applied a waxy ground to the plate, then scratched away lines to expose the metal. When dipped in acid, these exposed lines would be eaten away, creating grooves that hold ink. The plate is then inked, wiped clean, and pressed onto paper to transfer the image. Moyreau was not just reproducing an image, but engaging in a complex, physical process. Note the detailed rendering of the figures and the landscape, which were carefully built up through layers of etched lines. Consider also the social context of printmaking at the time; prints like this one played a crucial role in disseminating images and ideas, serving as a kind of mass media before photography. Recognizing this print as a crafted object allows us to consider the labour and skill involved in its production, blurring the lines between art, craft, and industry.