Have med arkitektur. Caprarola 1730 - 1790

Jens Petersen Lund created this print of a garden in Caprarola, Italy, sometime before his death in 1793. Its red chalk hue comes from the printmaking technique called etching, where an image is bitten into a metal plate with acid, and then printed. Look closely, and you can see how Lund’s image is built up from thousands of tiny lines. Each one of these was drawn into a coating on the metal plate. This was exacting work, but it allowed for effects of light and shadow that engraving – the other main printmaking technique of the time – simply couldn’t match. Considered in this light, Have med arkitektur is more than just a picturesque scene. It’s also a demonstration of skill, and a bid for artistic status. Printmaking was an important means of circulating images widely, but it was also an artistic medium in its own right. Lund’s beautiful print invites us to appreciate the artistry involved.