Nachtgezicht met visverkoopster en een urinerende man 1659 - 1740

This mezzotint was made by Jan van der Bruggen around the turn of the 18th century. Derived from the Italian “mezzo tinto,” meaning “half-tone,” the process involves roughening a copper plate with a tool called a rocker, then smoothing areas to create lighter tones. It's an intaglio process, similar to engraving, but capable of capturing a much wider range of tones. The effect here is decidedly nocturnal. The velvety blacks give way to subtle gradations of gray, illuminating a bustling night scene. We see a fishmonger haggling with a customer, while a dog relieves himself in the foreground. This wouldn’t be possible without the labor-intensive work of the mezzotint. The density of the burr is crucial to the image’s legibility, and it takes skill to burnish this back to pristine smoothness. Van der Bruggen’s choice of medium isn't accidental. He embraced the technical challenges of mezzotint to capture the texture of everyday life. The medium itself, with its emphasis on tonal variation, becomes a way of drawing us into this immersive scene.