The strolling musicians after 1635

This print, known as 'The strolling musicians', uses etching to create a scene full of life. The anonymous artist would have coated a metal plate with wax, drawn into it with a sharp needle, and then bathed the plate in acid. This process bites lines into the metal, which then hold ink and transfer to paper. It's a technique capable of capturing incredible detail, as you can see in the musicians' fur hats and the textures of their clothing. What is fascinating here is the contrast between the technical skill involved in etching – a laborious process – and the subject matter: itinerant performers, likely from the lower echelons of society. The artist clearly had an interest in depicting not just the finished product of creative expression, but also the lives and labor that surrounded it. By focusing on the everyday, 'The strolling musicians' challenges the notion of high art as separate from the realities of life and work.