Kerkbaljuw houdt een jongen met aap bij de arm 1834 - 1837

This print of a painting, "Kerkbaljuw houdt een jongen met aap bij de arm," was rendered by Abraham Raimbach in the early 19th century. It’s a mezzotint, meaning that the artist began with a copper plate that was roughened with a tool called a rocker, creating a field of burr that would print as solid black. Raimbach then selectively burnished and scraped areas of the plate to produce lighter tones and create the image. This was an extremely laborious method, requiring careful control and a delicate touch. The image presents a scene of social commentary. The church warden, the Kerkbaljuw, represents authority and order, while the boy with the monkey is an emblem of poverty and perhaps also of the exotic "other." The high degree of finish achieved by Raimbach speaks to the division of labor that was becoming standard in the print industry at this time, with some specializing in the invention of images, and others, like Raimbach, focused on their skilled translation into repeatable form.