Zicht op het kasteel van Versailles vanuit de tuinen 1838

This print of the Château de Versailles was made by Louis-Julien Jacottet. It's an etching, which means the artist used acid to bite lines into a metal plate, which was then inked and printed. Look closely and you can see the fineness of the lines, the textures and tones. Printmaking like this was a highly skilled, painstaking process, demanding years of apprenticeship. It was also central to the circulation of images in the 19th century. This print gives us a glimpse into the economies of representation. It's not just an image of Versailles; it is also evidence of labor and a whole system of production. In this period, Versailles was no longer the exclusive domain of royalty. It had become a site of tourism and national pride, with prints like this one playing a crucial role in shaping that identity. So, next time you look at a print, consider not just the image it presents, but the human effort and industrial systems that brought it into being.