Drie acteurs met lange mantels 1621

Paul Göttich made this etching of three actors in long cloaks sometime around the turn of the 17th century. The print is made with a few simple tools. A metal plate, likely copper, is coated with wax, through which the artist scratches his design. Then, the plate is submerged in acid, which bites away the exposed lines. Finally, the plate is inked and printed onto paper. What’s so interesting here is the way that etching – a relatively new technology at the time – allowed for the relatively quick reproduction of images. Consider the clothing of these actors. Their fancy hats, cloaks and swords would have immediately signaled wealth and status to the viewer. The print would have spread that signal far and wide, allowing the rising merchant classes of the early modern period to take note of and perhaps imitate the nobility. The etching medium democratized that imagery, effectively collapsing the distinction between high and low culture.