Heilige familie in boot met engel als bootsman tijdens vlucht naar Egypte 1748 - 1752

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo made this etching of the Holy Family in a boat, sometime in the 18th century. An etching is made by covering a metal plate with a waxy ground, drawing through it to expose the metal, and then immersing the plate in acid. The acid bites into the exposed lines, creating grooves that hold ink. What’s so interesting here is the contrast between the spiritual subject matter and the industrial means used to produce this image. Etching allowed for the relatively quick reproduction of images, making them accessible to a wider audience. In Tiepolo’s time, printmaking was an essential, bustling industry. The act of incising lines into a metal plate, and then using chemistry to bring the image into being, speaks to the growing influence of scientific and industrial processes. By choosing etching, Tiepolo put himself in dialogue with that world, blurring the boundaries between artistic expression and commercial production. So, next time you see an etching, remember that it’s not just a picture, it’s also a product of its time, reflecting the changing relationship between art, labor, and technology.