The Virgin suckling the infant Christ, the young Saint John the Baptist standing at left, after Reni 1812

This print, made by Mauro Gandolfi after Reni, is made with etching and engraving. These are intaglio processes, where lines are incised into a metal plate. The material of the print is paper, but the real story is in the metal plate. With engraving, the artist uses a tool called a burin to directly cut lines into the plate. Etching involves coating the plate with a waxy ground, drawing through it to expose the metal, and then immersing the plate in acid, which bites away the exposed lines. The depth of the lines determines how much ink they hold, and therefore the darkness of the printed line. The beauty of printmaking lies in its reproducibility. This image could be spread far and wide, and that accessibility is one reason why printmaking has often been associated with social movements, and the democratization of art. In this instance, it allowed Gandolfi to disseminate Reni’s composition, making it available to a much wider audience.