Christus en de overspelige vrouw 1575 - 1613

Diana Mantuana made this print of Christ and the woman taken in adultery using burin and etching techniques. Engraving involves using a tool to manually cut lines into a metal plate. Etching is a more chemically driven method, using acid to bite into the plate, allowing for more fluid lines. Look closely and you can see how Mantuana has used these processes in tandem. The architectural details of the columns are sharply defined by the burin, while the softer, shaded areas of the figures are suggested through etching. The story that unfolds would have been familiar to a broad audience. It must have taken the artist considerable time to plan and execute the composition, and translate this onto a copperplate, and she probably employed assistants in her workshop. Yet the printmaking tradition in which she was working was distinctly collaborative and commercial, with publishers playing an essential role in distributing the images. By focusing on the labor and processes involved, we gain insight into the economic circumstances that allowed this image to come into being.