The Masked Coffee Drinker and The Tired Wigmaker, Giovanni David, 1775
etching, h 245mm × w 170mm More details
Aquatint is an etching technique used by printmakers to create various passages of modelled tone. In Italy, Giovanni David was the first to use this technique, for example in a series of types characteristic of his residence Venice. His astute observations feature well-to-do revellers, such as the coffee drinker with his mask slid up, and a wigmaker who – exhausted by his work – has fallen asleep.
