Gewonde man met een zwaard 1627 - 1678

This print, "Wounded Man with a Sword," was created by Jan Thomas sometime in the 17th century. It's an etching, a printmaking technique that relies on the corrosive properties of acid to create an image in metal. The artist would have covered a metal plate with a waxy, protective layer, then scratched an image into that layer, exposing the metal beneath. When the plate was bathed in acid, the exposed lines would be eaten away, creating grooves. Ink would then be applied to these grooves, and the image transferred to paper under high pressure. The resulting image has a distinctive line quality. It’s an indirect process, and there's a clear separation of labor between the artist, the materials, and the tools. But it’s precisely this process of controlled corrosion that gives the print its character, a tangible record of skill and technique. We should remember that making prints like this was a crucial means of circulating images at the time, and a business in itself.