Plate 3: Boy with a hat touching the face of a girl; from 'Icones ad vivum expressae' after Giovanni Battista Piazzetta 1743

Giovanni Cattini created this print, "Boy with a hat touching the face of a girl," after Giovanni Battista Piazzetta. Notice how Cattini employs contrasting values of light and shadow to model the figures. The darker skin of the boy is set against the lighter complexion of the girl, emphasizing a palpable tension and connection. The composition itself creates a structured yet intimate encounter. Cattini invites us to question not only the relationship between these two individuals but also the broader social and cultural context of representation in the 18th century. The lines etched into the plate are used to create texture and volume, which invite a semiotic reading. The boy's hat, adorned with feathers, and the girl's delicate features, for example, might be seen as signs of status and femininity. Through formal analysis, we come to understand how Cattini destabilizes established meanings, prompting ongoing interpretations of identity, power, and representation within the artwork.