Afscheidsdiner voor koning Karel II van Engeland in het Mauritshuis te Den Haag after 1660

Pieter Philippe created this etching, depicting the farewell dinner for King Charles II of England, sometime between 1628 and 1720. Look closely, and you’ll see the etcher’s hand, the way the metal plate has been bitten away by acid to create tiny grooves that hold the ink. Each print pulled from this plate would carry with it the mark of that process, a testament to the skilled labor involved. The print’s monochrome palette focuses our attention on the scene itself: a lavish gathering of the elite. But consider the world beyond that room. This image speaks to a society deeply structured by class and labor, where the production of images like this one was itself a form of specialized work. So, the next time you look at an artwork, remember to look beyond the surface, to consider the hands that made it, and the world that shaped its creation.