Luther's Statue in Wittenberg 1822

Johann Gottfried Schadow made this print of Luther's statue in Wittenberg using etching. The process of etching, using acid to bite lines into a metal plate, lends itself particularly well to capturing the solid presence of statuary. Schadow’s skilled lines model Luther’s robes with great accuracy, reflecting his own expertise as a sculptor. But the graphic medium flattens the original three-dimensionality of the statue. In this way, printmaking served to disseminate and popularize monuments, making them accessible to a wider audience, beyond those who could visit Wittenberg in person. Consider the social implications of this reproductive strategy: printmaking democratized images, but the skilled labor required to produce the etching plate meant that this was not a truly egalitarian medium. The artist's hand, guided by tradition, transformed the material into more than just an illustration, but an artwork.