James Machir
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
1799
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
1799
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
James Machir is a 1799 ink by Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
You see a small, square portrait of a man in a dark coat with a high collar. His face is turned slightly, lit from the side so his features stand out sharp. The artist used fine lines to shade his skin and clothes, making it look almost three-dimensional. This is an engraving, a print made by scratching lines into a metal plate. The artist pushed ink into those grooves, pressed paper on top, then pulled it away to reveal the image. It’s a slow, careful process that makes the shadows feel deep and real. Cross-hatching is the trick here—tiny overlapping lines that build up tone. If you like this, look up Saint-Mémin, Charles B. J. Févret de.
