Vader en zoon te voet, naast de ezel 1570 - 1612

This print was made sometime in the early 1600’s by Karel van Mallery, using the intaglio technique. A metal plate, likely copper, would have been painstakingly engraved with lines, then inked and pressed to create this composition. Notice how the lines vary in thickness and density to create shading and texture, giving form to the figures and the donkey. The process requires both immense skill and intense labor. The subject itself touches on labor, showing a father and son walking alongside their donkey, seemingly too foolish to ride it. The reactions of the women on the left add a comic element. In its time, this image would have been one of many, circulated as a cheap, easily produced form of visual communication. Considering the material and the making helps us appreciate not only the artist’s technical skill, but also the print’s place in a wider system of production and consumption. It’s a reminder that even seemingly simple images can have complex social and economic dimensions.