Achterzijde van de oude beurs van Hendrik de Keyser te Amsterdam, 1613 1846

Dirk Jurriaan Sluyter made this print of the old Amsterdam stock exchange in 1813, using etching and engraving. These printmaking processes have a long history, dating back to the early 15th century. The image shows a building made of stone or brick, and the print translates that material into a network of very fine, closely spaced lines, giving a good sense of the building’s imposing scale and solid construction. The sharp lines and contrasting tones of the etching and engraving create a sense of depth and texture, emphasizing the architectural details of the stock exchange, like the windows and the tower. The smoothness of the water is also well captured. Consider the labor that went into creating this image. The artist had to carefully and skillfully incise lines into a metal plate, one by one, to create the image. The making of prints was itself, of course, a business - reflecting the rise of mercantile capitalism. So this image captures that culture in more ways than one. By considering the material and the making, we can see how this print reflects the economic and social context of its time.