Overtogt van de brug te Lodi, den 11den Meij 1796 1796 - 1798

Reinier Vinkeles made this engraving of the Battle of Lodi shortly after it happened in 1796. Engraving is an intaglio process, meaning that the image is incised into a plate, typically copper. The artist would have used a tool called a burin to physically carve the image in reverse. Ink is then applied to the plate, pushed into the carved lines, and the surface is wiped clean. Finally, paper is pressed against the plate with considerable force, transferring the ink and creating the print. The resulting image has a crisp, linear quality, well-suited to depicting scenes with many figures and details, like this battle scene. Engraving was a key technology for disseminating information and propaganda in the 18th century; this print would have allowed many people to visualize Napoleon’s victory. This reminds us that materials and making are never neutral; they are always embedded in social and political contexts.