Aanbidding door de herders 1615

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.