Aanbidding door de herders by Orazio Borgianni

Aanbidding door de herders

1615

Orazio Borgianni's Profile Picture

Orazio Borgianni

1578 - 1616

Location

Rijksmuseum
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Artwork details

Medium
print, etching
Dimensions
height 142 mm, width 260 mm
Location
Rijksmuseum
Copyright
Rijks Museum: Open Domain

Tags

#baroque#print#etching#figuration#history-painting

About this artwork

Orazio Borgianni made this etching of the Adoration of the Shepherds sometime between 1593 and 1616. Look closely, and you can see that it is made entirely of lines. The artist created this image by drawing into a metal plate with a sharp tool, then inking the plate and pressing it onto paper. The image has an immediate connection to labor: those shepherds, rough men who have come from the fields to see the newborn Christ. Borgianni gives them dignity, but doesn’t hide the signs of hard work, of life lived outdoors. The very medium of printmaking also speaks to labor. It's a relatively democratic art form, ideally suited to spreading images widely. Consider this etching in relation to other artworks depicting the same scene, and you’ll find a wide range of approaches. Borgianni has made a conscious choice, not just of subject matter but of technique, with its inherent connection to production and the lives of working people.

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