Royal Portugese Funeral Monument (possibly part of a funeral book) 1668 - 1715

This Royal Portuguese Funeral Monument was made in the 17th century by Michel Bouteux, likely as an illustration in a book. The printmaking process – etching, to be precise – is critical to understanding the image. The monument’s form is rendered through precise lines, all created by drawing into an acid-resistant ground on a metal plate. The plate is then immersed in acid, which bites away the exposed lines. Ink is applied to these etched lines, and then the plate is pressed onto paper. Consider how this process allowed for multiples. Etchings like this one were often included in books about courtly life, helping to solidify the monarchy’s image. The monument itself, replete with symbolic figures, and topped by a crown, would have been a temporary structure, built to impress. But the print has a longer life, extending the power of the Portuguese royals through the distribution of images. It's a fascinating convergence of the temporary and the lasting, the unique and the mass-produced.