Hvilende får 1850

Carl Frederik Bartsch made this print, Hvilende får, using etching, a technique which requires considerable skill. The image begins with a metal plate, likely copper or zinc. The etcher covers the plate with a waxy, acid-resistant ground, then draws an image into the wax with a sharp needle, exposing the metal. The plate is then submerged in acid, which bites into the exposed lines. To achieve the range of tones you see here, Bartsch likely repeated this process several times, covering some lines for shorter or longer periods to vary their depth and darkness. Consider the amount of work involved in creating this image. Bartsch would have needed not only artistic vision but also a deep understanding of chemistry and metallurgy. The contrast between the soft, pastoral subject and the complex industrial processes used to create the image is striking, isn’t it?