Wilde narcissen 1617

This print of wild daffodils was made by Crispijn van de Passe the Younger, likely in the first half of the 17th century. It's an engraving, meaning that the artist would have used a tool called a burin to carve lines into a copper plate. Ink would then be applied to the plate, and the excess wiped away, leaving ink only in the incised lines. Paper is then laid on top and run through a press, transferring the image. Look closely, and you can see the incredible fineness of the lines, which give the image its precision. This was a highly skilled process, demanding years of training. The prints would have been sold as individual sheets or bound into books, allowing the relatively easy dissemination of images. It’s fascinating to consider the labor involved: from the mining of the copper to the making of the paper, to the artist's expertise and the printer's craft. All this, to create an image of something as fleeting and beautiful as a daffodil. It reminds us that even the simplest image has a complex story to tell.