After looking at a lithograph up close in class on Tuesday I have a whole new appreciation for lithographs. I couldn’t believe how detailed the picture was, it was almost as if it was drawn by hand. Seeing the image in person was just so much different than looking at it online but you can still see the incredible amount of work and detail that went into the picture. Even the people in the background of the picture have faces and distinct body outlines, I wasn’t expecting that at all for this time period and for this level of technology.
http://cdm.lafayette.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/mdl-prints&CISOPTR=1468&CISOBOX=1&REC=14
The lithograph was made, after all, to make clearer and more dependable images. It is important to note too when considering the detail of the actual picture, that a trained artist actually engraved the image. The “lithograph” more often refers to the reproduction and means of doing so. What I do find stunning is an attention to shadow and light. It is amazing how well we can adapt and master new artistic mediums.
It always amazes me how much detail the artists are able to achieve through etching. It can be a tedious process.
It is crazy to be able to see such a difference in the quality of art in between the early centuries. After seeing what lithographic printing was capable of, all previous drawings that we had seen in books seemed unimpressive, to say the least. I wonder what those early, close up picture of bugs would have looked like had they been done using lithography.