Offer van Isaac 1748 - 1796

This print, "Offer van Isaac", was made by Giovanni Battista Mengardi, presumably in the late 18th century. The medium here is etching, a printmaking process where lines are incised into a metal plate with acid, which then holds ink, and then the plate is pressed onto paper. Consider the labor involved here. First the creation of the original image, and then its faithful translation by means of this fairly laborious printing process. Each impression would have required a considerable investment of time and effort. This was a pre-industrial technology of reproduction, with implications for the circulation of images, knowledge, and power. Prints like this allowed for the wide distribution of artistic ideas, but also required skilled labor. The artist's hand, and the printer's, were essential to the entire process. Thinking about the making helps us to appreciate this image not only as a depiction of a dramatic biblical scene, but also as a product of human ingenuity, skill, and collaborative work. This challenges the traditional notion of art as solely the product of individual genius.