Depressed areas were filled with ink and non-printing parts were wiped clean. The design was scraped into the ground to expose the metal and the plate was submerged in acid solution to the desired depth and width. A ground (acid resist coating) was hardened by heating with a candle, then cooled. Etching also used copper plates and depressed the images below the metal surface. Etching was an easier process for artists to use and machines helped speed up the printmaking process. Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commonsīy the 19th century, engraving became used mainly for illustrations.
#Intaglio press series#
Copper plates were perfect for this process because it was not so hard that the rocker would be damaged but still offered excellent retention of detail considering the pressures required during printing.Įcce Homo, engraving from the Passion series by Martin Schongauer. The mezzotint matrix was worked with an intaglio rocker to have a consistent tooth to hold the ink. It was then run through a press where paper absorbed the ink in the small reservoirs created by the grooves. Printer inks were then rubbed over it and wiped with tarlatan (starched cheesecloth) leaving ink only within the cuts. Copper was the preferred metal because it was strong yet easily worked and did not rust.
![intaglio press intaglio press](https://coimages.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/images/246/774/medium_cd0104_007_050603_CS2_1989_6_Intaglio_press.jpg)
The prominent corner was an effective and controllable cutting edge. The process began with an engraver's block, which was used to hold or turn a copper plate as Schongauer cut fine lines into it using a burin or square tool-steeled rod sharpened diagonally at one end.
![intaglio press intaglio press](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9e/b4/06/9eb406fe26f7baf8ef8576a20544a499.jpg)
When artist Martin Schongauer exploited copper engraving in the 1430s, a new form of printmaking resulted using the intaglio techniques. In the middle ages, goldsmiths engraved metalworks to decorate armor, musical instruments and religious objects. Martin Schongauer Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia CommonsĪs early as 5,000 B.C., cultures such as the Sumerians created jewelry by carving designs into metals like gold, silver and copper.