Schrijvende man 1658 - 1677

This mezzotint, "Schrijvende man," or "Writing Man," was made by Wallerant Vaillant sometime in the 17th century. Mezzotint is a printmaking process achieved by roughening a copper plate with a special tool called a rocker. The entire surface is worked over to create thousands of little indentations, which, if printed at this stage, would result in a solid black field. Vaillant would then have burnished or smoothed certain areas of the plate to varying degrees, so they would hold less ink and print lighter tones. The velvety blacks, achieved through this intensive labor, give way to luminous greys, creating the chiaroscuro effect we see here. Consider the sheer labor involved to create the tonality of this image through mechanical means. In this light, the image can be seen as a reflection on the burgeoning information economy, as all those letters being written demanded their own technologies of production. Appreciate the intense work and skill involved in its production.