Henry Hall
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
1808
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
1808
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
This small print shows Henry Hall, a man in a plain dark coat. His face is lit from the side, making deep shadows under his brow and nose. The artist used fine lines to build up the light and dark areas. Mezzotint was new at the time. It let artists create soft gradations of tone with metal plates instead of harsh lines. Here, the cross-hatched marks fade into gentle shadows on Hall’s cheek. To see how artists made prints like this, look up engraving.
