San Gimignano 1923

Louis Conrad Rosenberg made this print of San Gimignano, and it’s an absolute marvel of mark-making. The sepia tones work together to create an image that feels both historical and immediate, like a memory half-recalled. Look at the way the towers rise above the town. They're not just architectural details; they're like individual brushstrokes reaching for the sky. You can almost feel the artist’s hand moving across the plate, etching each line with care and precision. The texture! It's as if the burr of the drypoint has been left intentionally, to add a tactile quality to the image, hinting at the rough stone of the buildings themselves. The little flock of birds in the sky are just perfect. They really bring the whole composition together. It makes me think of Piranesi and his architectural prints, not just in the subject matter, but in that sense of a real place rendered with such a fine, personal touch. Art is like a conversation, an ongoing dialogue across time and space.