Ariane overhandigt de teugels van een paard aan Melinte 1639

This print, “Ariane overhandigt de teugels van een paard aan Melinte”, was made in Paris by Abraham Bosse. It’s an etching, a process which involves biting lines into a metal plate with acid, inking it, and then running it through a press. The effect here depends on Bosse’s mastery of line – see how he varies the density of hatching to create a sense of light falling across the scene. But the making of this image goes beyond Bosse’s skill. It also involves the labour of the printer, Mathieu Guillemot, whose address is proudly displayed at the bottom. The division of labour, between designer, etcher, and printer, was typical of the period, reflecting an increasingly commercial art world. Prints like this were luxury goods, produced through complex methods of production and consumption. The etching medium itself is critical to understanding the art’s social context, with production and consumption tied to wider issues of labour and economics.