Portret van Jacob Merz 1768 - 1817

This is a portrait of Jacob Merz, made by Johann Heinrich Lips using etching, a printmaking technique. The artist would have applied a waxy, acid-resistant ground to a metal plate, before drawing the composition with a sharp needle, exposing the metal beneath. The plate was then immersed in acid, which bit into the drawn lines, creating grooves. In this case, Lips has used a technique called ‘stipple engraving’. This means that instead of using lines, the image is built up from many tiny dots. Look closely and you can see how the density of the dots creates the tonal variation that models Merz’s face and clothing. This was an immensely painstaking process, requiring extraordinary skill. The print could then be inked and run through a press, transferring the image to paper. Such prints were relatively affordable, allowing for wider circulation of portraits and other images. Considering the labor involved gives us a new appreciation for what might seem like a simple image. It reminds us that art history is also a history of making.