Christ Taken Prisoner in the Garden, from The Passion of Christ, plate 8 1664

This is plate eight from Grégoire Huret’s The Passion of Christ, made using engraving, a printmaking process dating back to the fifteenth century. The image is realized through the methodical scoring of a copper plate, demanding incredible control and physical strength. The entire composition relies on the engraver's skill to create a dynamic tonal range, from deep shadows to the gleaming highlights on the figures’ faces. This labor-intensive process transforms a polished copper surface into a matrix capable of producing multiple impressions. Consider the economics of printmaking at the time. Images like these made art accessible to a broader audience, moving religious narratives out of the church and into the hands of the people. Each print represents hours of painstaking labor, but also a democratization of art. So next time you see an engraving, remember it’s more than just an image; it's a testament to human skill, and the complex relationship between art, labor, and access.