Labre, de nieuwe heilige 1788

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki made this print, Labre, de nieuwe heilige, using etching, a printmaking technique that relies on acid to cut into a metal plate. The image shows a gathering of people around a bed, with a religious figure standing among them. To create this scene, Chodowiecki would have coated a metal plate with a waxy, acid-resistant substance, then scratched an image into this coating. The plate was then submerged in acid, which bit into the exposed metal, creating lines. The longer the plate stayed in the acid, the deeper the lines became, influencing the darkness of the printed line. This process allowed for the relatively easy reproduction of images, aligning with the rise of print culture and the increasing demand for visual material. The level of detail suggests skilled labor and time. The social context involves the distribution of religious imagery, a reflection of both popular piety and the mechanics of image production.