Acteur met gepluimde hoed, in tweevoud 1621

Paul Göttich made this drawing of an actor with a feathered hat around the early 17th century using pen and ink on paper. At first glance, it's easy to focus on the fashionable figure depicted, but I find it equally compelling to think about the labor and materials that went into making the drawing itself. Paper at this time was a precious commodity, made by hand from pulped rags. Each sheet would have been the result of skilled labor. The ink, too, would have been mixed carefully from a recipe using materials like soot and gum arabic. Göttich’s deft handling of the pen brings the figure to life with economical lines and tonal variations, which, in turn, create a sense of depth and volume. But, in order to fully appreciate the drawing, we need to consider these material processes. They remind us that even seemingly simple images like this one are grounded in specific social and economic conditions.