1622
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Dominant colour
Cap. Esgangarato and Cap. Cocodrillo is a 1622 ink by French 17th Century, a Baroque work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This etching shows two men in military dress standing side by side. Their faces look almost identical, but the names under their portraits are strange: “Cap. Esgangarato” and “Cap. Cocodrillo.” It feels like a joke or a riddle wrapped in armor. The artist used fine lines and shading to give the men weight and presence. The background stays plain, which keeps the focus on their odd names and uniforms. Look up etching to see how the ink sits in the grooves of the metal plate.
Seventeenth-century French printmakers turned ink into story. Their tools were burin and acid, paper their stage. Look at the Beggar Woman with Rosary (1622), etched on laid paper, her hands folded around faith, or The…
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