1650
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Landscape with Two Pilgrims is a 1650 ink by French 17th Century, a Baroque work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows two travelers walking along a dirt path beside a river. One carries a long staff, the other leans on a walking stick. A lone tree stands near them, while a small bridge and distant buildings fade into the background. The lines are loose and hurried, like quick notes. The artist used a technique that lets ink sit in scratched grooves, creating this grainy texture. It looks like they were in a rush—or maybe just testing how far they could push the lines. Check out technique: etching to see how this kind of scratch-and-ink art works.
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…
See the richer artist page
