Portret van Michael Denis 1752 - 1803

This is a portrait of Michael Denis, made by Christian Gottlieb Geyser using the technique of etching. Etching is a printmaking process that relies on the corrosive power of acid to create an image in metal, which is then inked and printed on paper. The fine lines we see here required skilled hands and precise timing. First, the plate would have been coated with a waxy, acid-resistant substance. Then, the artist would carefully draw the portrait through the wax, exposing the metal beneath. An acid bath would then bite into these exposed lines, creating grooves that hold ink. The subtlety of the shading suggests that Geyser may have used a technique called aquatint, which creates tonal effects by selectively exposing areas of the plate to acid through a porous ground. This allowed for a wider range of visual texture, emulating the tones of a wash drawing. Ultimately, understanding how this print was made gives us a new appreciation for its delicate beauty, blurring the lines between art and craft.