Anne Page and Slender (Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 1, Scene 1) 1829

This print, showing a scene from Shakespeare's *Merry Wives of Windsor,* was made by Samuel William Reynolds the elder. It's a mezzotint, a printmaking technique that allows for rich tonal variation. The process begins with roughening a copper plate with a tool called a rocker. This creates a surface that would print solid black. Then, the printmaker uses various tools to selectively smooth areas, creating lighter tones. It's a labor-intensive process. Think about the time involved in creating this image. Each area of shade represents countless tiny indentations on the copper plate. The figures of Anne and Slender, the folds of their costumes, and the architectural details of the house, all emerge from this meticulous process. Mezzotint was prized for its ability to mimic the look of paintings, making art more accessible to a wider audience. Yet, this accessibility came at the cost of considerable skilled labor. By understanding the process, we can appreciate how prints like this were not just aesthetic objects but also products of a specific economic and social context, blurring the lines between art and craft.