1839

Copper Plate and Acid: Two Printmakers Making an Etching

German, 1806 - 1882

In this image, Neureuther is timing his assistant to prevent his being overcome by hallucinatory fumes while immersing an etching plate in an acid bath. The pencil inscription “Probedruck” (proof impression) indicates that Neureuther printed this copy of the etching to check his work on the plate before completing it. In the final version, the blank space contains a caption in German that translates as: “You may well protect your mouth from the spirit of the acid, / There is no way to guard your picture from the goblin within.”