Temperance Hedge Lee
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
This small 1799 engraving shows a man’s face in profile, all clean lines and soft shadows. His coat looks stiff, like starched fabric under candlelight. The artist used cross-hatching—tiny parallel lines—to build up the dark areas, which makes the face glow against the paper. Saint-Mémin worked in Washington after the American Revolution, making portraits of early leaders. He didn’t paint on canvas; he carved these images onto metal plates and inked them by hand. Look up cross-hatching to see how simple lines can build whole worlds in black and white.
