1650
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
The Fan is a 1650 ink by French 17th Century, a Baroque work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This image shows a busy scene framed like a decorative fan. At the top, a city sits by a river, with ships and soldiers fighting. Below, a crowd gathers near tents and horses, while two figures in the center seem to be the focus. The whole thing is surrounded by swirling, ornate lines that look like fan ribs. The text at the top is in Italian and hints this might be a battle scene. The mix of action and detail suggests it’s meant to feel dramatic. This kind of print was made using etching.
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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