Portræt af skuespiller Marcus Ulsøe Hortulan 1867

This is a portrait of actor Marcus Ulsøe Hortulan, made by Vilhelm Kyhn, who lived from 1819 to 1903. It's a small print, made using etching, a printmaking technique that relies on the corrosive power of acid. Look closely, and you can see how the artist scratched lines into a metal plate, which was then submerged in acid. The longer the plate sat in the acid, the deeper the lines became. Once inked and printed, these lines created the image. This wasn’t a quick or easy process. It demanded skill and patience. The print is not just an image, but a record of physical labor. This highlights the craft involved in making images, at a time when photography was becoming more popular. Etching retained a connection to older traditions, linking art to manual work and specialized skill. It reminds us that every image, even a mass-produced one, is the product of specific materials, processes, and human effort.