Tweemaster met sloep aan boord 1789

Gerrit Groenewegen made this print of a 'Tweemaster met sloep aan boord' – that is, a two-masted ship with a sloop on board – sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century. Groenewegen worked in etching, an intaglio printmaking technique. He would have coated a copper plate with a waxy ground, then drawn through it with a needle to expose the metal. The plate was then immersed in acid, which bit into the exposed lines, creating grooves. Ink was then applied into the recesses, and the surface wiped clean. Finally, the image was transferred to paper under great pressure. Consider all the skill involved. Not only the hand-eye coordination to create such a finely detailed image, but also the etcher’s knowledge of chemistry and mechanics. The print is a beautiful thing, but it also speaks to the labor that went into its making – and of course, the labor of the sailors who actually sailed these ships. Appreciating the craft involved helps us understand the image more fully.