Allegorie op vergankelijkheid 1714

This etching, *Allegorie op vergankelijkheid*, was made by Bernard Picart in the early 18th century. With just a copper plate, some acid, and a skilled hand, Picart has created a world of allegory. The texture of the print arises from the thousands of tiny etched lines which, through hatching and cross-hatching, produce areas of light and shadow. It would have taken immense patience to realize this image, and multiple stages of stopping out with varnish to protect certain areas of the plate from the corrosive acid. But the real labor here, of course, is not just Picart’s. Consider the extraction of the copper, the refining process, and the labour involved in producing paper. Look closely and you will see the physical properties that give the image its unique character. The relative cheapness of the printing process, and therefore of the final image, would have made this artwork widely available. So, next time you see an artwork, think about the materials it’s made from, how they were sourced, and what they tell us about the conditions of its making.