Drie heilige vrouwen 1602 - 1616

Jacques Bellange made this print of three holy women around the early 17th century. It's made using etching, a printmaking technique that allows for highly detailed and expressive lines. Bellange would have covered a metal plate with a waxy, acid-resistant coating, drawn his design into the wax, then submerged the plate in acid, which bit into the exposed metal, creating grooves. Ink is then applied to the plate, filling these grooves, and the image is transferred to paper under high pressure. The final print bears the marks of this process, with a tactile quality arising from the impressed lines. Printmaking was a key technology for the wider distribution of images in early modern Europe, as it allowed for the relatively inexpensive production of artworks for a growing market. Bellange’s work, with its elegant figures and intricate details, reflects both the artistic skill and the industrialized processes that underpinned it. It's a reminder that what we often consider "fine art" is deeply embedded in the social and economic structures of its time.