Landschap met figuren op pad langs meer 1613 - 1695

This landscape with figures was made by Nicolas Perelle in the 17th century, using etching. The incised lines, rendered in tones of black and gray, create a picturesque scene. But the material itself— the metal plate— is also key to understanding the image. The copperplate, carefully worked, would have been capable of producing many identical images. The etching marks, like the lines in a drawing, have a crisp quality to them; but they are also evidence of a highly specialized reproductive technique. The artist's hand is less evident here than that of the printmaker, who understood how to manipulate acid and ink to achieve the desired effect. Prints like this were relatively inexpensive and served as a form of mass media, spreading the taste for idealized pastoral scenes far beyond the elite circles who commissioned paintings. Considering the ways in which prints democratized art helps us to look beyond traditional hierarchies of value, recognizing the skill and cultural impact inherent in the process of making.