Architectural Fantasy with a Triumphal Arch before 1753

Giuseppe Antonio Landi created this etching, Architectural Fantasy with a Triumphal Arch, using a metal plate, likely copper. The plate is covered with an acid-resistant ground, and lines are drawn through it with a needle. When the plate is bathed in acid, these lines are etched into the surface. This printmaking process is indirectly collaborative; although the artist makes the drawing, it is the chemical reaction that does much of the work. Note the clean lines that define the architecture, contrasting with the more freely drawn figures in the foreground. These are not presented as solid forms, but as outlines. The final print is a result of the mechanical printing press, repeating the image on paper. By Landi’s time, the etching process had democratized image-making; it became an integral part of how information was disseminated across Europe, and how artists explored and distributed their ideas. The labor of producing such a print was significant, but the result could be widely shared. The print is an early example of the kind of industrialization that would transform all creative fields.