Fantastisch landschap met beek, waterval en antieke ruïnen c. 1550 - 1570

This 'Fantastic Landscape with Stream, Waterfall and Ancient Ruins' was made by an artist known only by the initials HI, using the printmaking technique of etching. The etcher would have coated a metal plate with wax, then drawn through it with a sharp needle. The plate was then immersed in acid, which ate away at the exposed lines, incising them. Finally, the plate was inked and printed, transferring the image onto paper. This was an indirect process, requiring expertise and immense patience. Notice how the etcher used layers of hatching and cross-hatching to build up the density of tone. It is painstaking work. As with any print, we should remember that it was made to be multiplied. Etchings like this one made art accessible to a wider public. Though the subject is fanciful, its very availability speaks to a modern, more democratic sensibility.