Raffaele Conforti, Italian politician 1862

This is Émile Bayard’s rendering of Raffaele Conforti, the Italian politician, in print. Observe the image closely; it’s a play of hatching and cross-hatching. The image’s structure hinges on the strategic use of line to define form, and the density of those lines dictates tonal value. The hair and clothing are rendered with a meticulous layering of lines. This creates an almost tactile sense of depth and texture. In contrast, areas like the face are more sparsely treated, focusing our attention on the subject’s profile. Bayard’s technique mirrors the broader intellectual currents of his time. The rise of positivism, with its emphasis on empirical observation, found its visual counterpart in art that prioritized detail and accuracy. Bayard’s reliance on line to construct form also reflects a semiotic approach to representation, where each stroke functions as a signifier.