Landscape with Cross and Figures 

Georg Eisenmann created this landscape with cross and figures using etching, a printmaking technique, sometime between 1719 and 1826. To make this print, Eisenmann coated a metal plate with a waxy, acid-resistant ground, then scratched an image into that ground. The plate was then bathed in acid, which bit into the metal only where it was exposed, creating an intaglio printing plate. The lines you see are where the acid ate away at the metal. This process allowed for the creation of multiple copies, democratizing art production to a degree. The landscape becomes a commodity, available for purchase and distribution, contributing to a burgeoning market for art beyond the elite. What I find compelling here is how the hand of the artist is mediated by the chemical process. Each line represents a deliberate act, but also a ceding of control to the materials and their interaction. It's a dance between intention and accident, mirroring perhaps the human presence within the vastness of nature depicted. This print invites us to consider how art, even when seemingly representational, is always deeply rooted in the material processes that bring it into being.