Portret van Ennio Quirino Visconti 1765 - 1829

Pietro Becceni made this portrait of Ennio Quirino Visconti using engraving, a printmaking process with a long and fascinating history. The image is created by carefully cutting lines into a metal plate, which is then inked and pressed onto paper. What’s interesting here is the combination of skilled handwork with a potentially repeatable format. Each print taken from the plate would be an original, yet identical to all the others in the edition. Consider all the work that goes into this. First, the engraver needs to be a highly skilled technician. Also, the paper itself implies something about the subject. In the late 18th century, good quality paper was an expensive commodity. Only someone of considerable means could afford to sit for a portrait that would be reproduced using this technique. Thinking about materials and making helps us understand how art is always connected to wider social and economic realities. It challenges the idea that art is somehow separate from the world of craft and labor.