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The Tentative Beginnings of Etching in the Netherlands
In the Netherlands, a small group of artists began to etch in the early 1520s. Certain practitioners, such as Jan Gossart, Lucas van Leyden, and Dirk Vellert, briefly flirted with the technique, producing just a few prints. Others, namely Frans Crabbe and Nicolaas Hogenberg, engaged in a more serious relationship. Lucas was, crucially, the first artist in Europe to etch on copper, a softer metal that allowed greater flexibility in handling; it rapidly became the metal of choice for this technique. Copper plates permitted the mixing of etching with engraving and were not vulnerable to the metal corrosion that plagued the German etchers who worked on iron.
The early etchers of the Netherlands lived across the country, in the court cities of Mechelen and Wijk by Duurstede and the market-driven cities of Antwerp and Leiden. As a group, their etchings are less freely sketched than those of artists in other parts of Europe. They brought to the medium the tight hatching systems characteristic of engraving. Humanist scholars and patrons, situated at the courts, were fascinated by new technologies and the innovations of these artists. They became instrumental in the promotion and circulation of etching throughout the region. |