Portret van Adrien de Valois 1675 - 1727

This is Claude Duflos’s portrait of Adrien de Valois, made with etching and engraving, probably in the early 1700s. With these printmaking techniques, a metal plate is prepared with an acid-resistant coating, and the artist scratches an image into the surface with a needle. Then acid is applied, biting away at the exposed metal. The deeper the lines, the more ink they will hold. The result is a study in contrasts. The crisp lines of the oval frame stand apart from the softer textures of Valois's wig and robes. The density of line is astounding, and speaks to the patience required. We can imagine the engraver spending hours, bent over the plate, building up this image line by line. In its own way, this is an emblem of production, not just of an individual portrait. The many hours of labor make it valuable. Considering all this, perhaps we can appreciate the skill of the printmaker as much as the status of the man he depicts.