Grazing Horse, plate three from Series of Horses 1651

Dirck Stoop made this print, Grazing Horse, sometime in the 17th century, using a technique called etching. This involved covering a metal plate with a waxy ground, drawing into it with a needle, and then bathing the plate in acid. The acid bites into the exposed lines, which are then filled with ink and printed. The magic of etching is in the quality of the line. Look closely, and you’ll see Stoop has used it to great effect, describing the volume of the horses’ bodies with carefully modulated cross-hatching. This was a technique perfectly suited to the depiction of animals, which were essential to agriculture and transport at this time. You can see a horse-drawn wagon in the background. Etchings like this one were not considered high art at the time, they were widely produced and distributed, serving as a way to disseminate imagery and information. This print reminds us that the concept of ‘art’ is always connected to labor, materials, and social context.