Christ and the Sinner 1883

Vasily Polenov created this image, "Christ and the Sinner," using the printmaking process of etching. This is a laborious, indirect method – think of it as a kind of drawing in acid. First, a metal plate is coated with a waxy ground. The artist scratches an image into this surface, exposing the metal beneath. Then the plate is submerged in acid, which bites into the exposed lines. This creates grooves that will hold ink. The deeper the bite, the darker the line in the final print. After the plate is inked, it’s pressed onto paper, transferring the image. Polenov had to be precise. The cross-hatching and fine details of the architecture and the figures in the crowd all required meticulous work. What does this labor signify? Polenov may be suggesting that seeing and judgement, especially on a grand scale, demands careful work. Only then can we separate the essential from the inessential.