Head of Saint John the Baptist [verso] 

Thomas Butts, Jr. made this image of “Head of Saint John the Baptist” using engraving, a printmaking technique that involves incising a design onto a metal plate. Here, the artist would have used a tool called a burin to carve lines into the copper, creating grooves that hold ink. The character of the engraved line has a crisp, deliberate quality. Look closely, and you’ll notice the precision in the rendering of St. John’s hair and beard, achieved through controlled movements. The density of the lines creates areas of light and shadow, giving depth to the portrait. The cross-hatching at the bottom right adds to the overall tonal range of the composition. Engraving was a highly skilled craft, often associated with commercial printmaking. By employing this technique, Butts, Jr. situates his artistic practice within a broader landscape of labor, underscoring the significance of skilled handwork in the creation of art. This invites us to consider how traditional artistic categories intersect with histories of craft, labor, and the means of production.