Vrouw met sikkel en korenaren op een rocaille 1719 - 1749

Philipp Andreas Degmair made this print, ‘Woman with sickle and ears of corn in a rocaille’, using etching. This process involves coating a metal plate with wax, scratching an image into it, and then bathing it in acid, which bites into the exposed lines. The character of etching lends itself to intricate detail, which Degmair uses to great effect. Notice the rocaille frame, filled with motifs of summer: wheat, harvesting tools, and a woman holding a sheaf of grain. This idealized image is far removed from the difficult realities of agricultural labor. Instead, it speaks to a comfortable, even aristocratic vision of rural life. Look closely, and you’ll see the incredible amount of skilled work needed to produce this image. The etching process, the design itself, all of it would have been valued as a demonstration of artistry. This kind of printmaking blurred the line between fine art and skilled craft, creating an image of nature made by human labor.