Landschap met rustende herderin en vee c. 1760 - 1764

Noël Le Mire created this print, *Landschap met rustende herderin en vee* or *Landscape with resting shepherdess and cattle*, using etching and engraving techniques. Look closely, and you'll notice the image is made from a dense network of fine lines. The artist would have used sharp tools to cut these lines into a metal plate, creating the image in reverse. When the plate is inked and pressed onto paper, the image appears in its intended orientation. The etching process allows for a great deal of detail. Le Mire has carefully crafted a pastoral scene, complete with grazing cattle and a resting shepherdess, showing an idealised view of country life. The laborious process of etching and engraving reflects a time when images were not so easily reproduced; each print was the result of skilled handwork, making them valuable objects. Consider the labor involved in creating such a detailed image, and how the print would have been circulated and consumed in 18th-century Europe. It invites us to look beyond the surface, and to recognize the labor and social context embedded in its very making.