Cottage with White Paling
1702
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1702
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
This picture shows a quiet countryside scene. A small house sits near a river, with a fence made of vertical posts in front. Tall trees with thick branches shade the house, and the water reflects the shore. A few boats float in the distance, and the whole scene is drawn in black lines on light paper. The artist used a method called etching to make these sharp lines. This means they scratched into a metal plate, then dipped it in acid to create the image. Look up etching to see how this technique works.
