Portret van Carl Philipp von Schwarzenberg 1812 - 1825

This print of Carl Philipp von Schwarzenberg was made by Friedrich Wilhelm Bollinger. It’s an engraving, a printmaking process with a long history that became especially important for disseminating images of power in the modern era. Engraving involves carefully incising lines into a metal plate, inking the plate, and then using a press to transfer the image onto paper. The resulting print has a distinctive crispness, a result of the incised lines. This technique allowed for relatively quick reproduction, making portraits like this accessible to a wider audience than a unique painting would have been. Bollinger’s skill is evident in the detailed rendering of Schwarzenberg’s features and uniform. But consider the labor involved, the skilled hand required to cut those lines into the metal. In its own way, this print reflects the industrializing world of the 19th century, where even handcrafted objects were part of a larger system of production and consumption. Appreciating the printmaking technique helps us see beyond the image itself and recognize the broader context of its creation and circulation.