Tintoretto's House in the Rio della Sensa, Venice 1929

Louis Conrad Rosenberg made this etching called 'Tintoretto's House in the Rio della Sensa, Venice'. It's all about process, really, looking at how the etched lines build up the image. The texture here is amazing, you can almost feel the rough stone of the buildings and the gentle lapping of the water. I love how Rosenberg uses the density of the lines to suggest depth and shadow. Check out the way he renders the buildings on the left. See how the closely packed lines create this feeling of solid, weighty structure? It is a real contrast to the lighter, more open strokes used for the sky. It makes you think about the weight of history. This reminds me a little of Piranesi, that other master etcher of architectural fantasies. But while Piranesi is all about drama and grandeur, Rosenberg is more intimate, more about capturing a sense of place and time. It's a conversation across time, these artists speaking to each other through the language of line and tone.