Mezzotint is a printing process of the intaglio family, in which the surface of a metal plate is roughened evenly; the image is then brought out by smoothing the surface, creating the image by working from dark to light. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Intaglio (pronounced in-TAL-yo, IPA: ) is a printmaking technique in which the image is incised into a surface. ... Hot metal work from a blacksmith In chemistry, a metal (Greek: Metallon) is an element that readily forms positive ions (cations) and has metallic bonds. ...

Plates can be mechanically roughened, but the classical way is to rub fine metal filings over the surface with a piece of glass; the finer the filings, the smaller the grain of the surface. The method commonly in use today is to use a steel rocker approximately five inches wide, which has between 45 and 120 teeth per inch on the face of a blade in the shape of a shallow arc, with a wooden handle projecting upwards in a T-shape. Rocked steadily from side to side at the correct angle, the rocker will proceed forward creating burrs in the surface of the copper. The plate is then moved - either rotated by a set number of degrees or through 90 degrees according to preference - and then rocked in another pass. This is repeated until the plate is roughened evenly and will print a completely solid tone. Carol Wax's book The Mezzotint: History and Technique (Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1990) is the best available text on the subject, covering history, development, methods and materials for the whole process. Mezzotint is known for the luxurious quality of its tones: first, because an evenly, finely roughened surface holds a lot of ink, allowing deep solid colors to be printed; secondly because the process of smoothing the texture with burin, burnisher and scraper allows fine gradations in tone to be developed. General Name, Symbol, Number copper, Cu, 29 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 4, d Appearance metallic pinkish red Atomic mass 63. ... In lithic reduction, a burin is a special type of lithic flake with a chisel-like edge which prehistoric humans may have used for engraving or for carving wood or bone. ...

The mezzotint printing method was invented by Ludwig von Siegen (1609-1680). His earliest surviving mezzotint print dates to 1642 and is a portrait of Amelia Elizabeth, Landgravine of Hesse-Cassel.^{[citation needed]} Robert Kipniss and Peter Ilsted are two of the greatest 20th Century masters of the technique. Ludwig von Siegen (c. ... // Events April 4 – King of Spain signs an edit of expulsion of all moriscos from Spain April 9 – Spain recognizes Dutch independence May 23 - Official ratification of the Second Charter of Virginia. ... Events First Portuguese governor was appointed to Macau The Swedish city Karlskrona was founded as the Royal Swedish Navy relocated there. ... Events January 4 - Charles I attempts to arrest five leading members of the Long Parliament, but they escape. ... Hesse-Kassel (Hessen-Kassel) was a German principality that came into existence when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided in 1568 upon the death of Landgrave Philip of Hesse and his eldest son Wilhelm IV inherited the northern portion and established his capital in Kassel. ... Peter Ilsted (1861-1933) was a leading Danish artist. ...

The word mezzotint is derived from the Italian mezzo-tinto, meaning half-painted.

Mezzotint Engravers

• Richard Josey (1840-1906), engraver of James McNeill Whistler's Whistler's Mother.
• `M.C. Escher

Richard Josey Richard Josey (1841—1906) was a prominent mezzotint engraver in Victorian London. ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Self portrait James Abbott McNeill Whistler (July 14, 1834 – July 17, 1903) was an American-born, British-based painter and etcher. ... Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artists Mother, famous under its colloquial name Whistlers Mother, is an 1871 oil-on-canvas painting by James McNeill Whistler. ... Hand with Reflecting Sphere (Self-Portrait in Spherical Mirror), 1935. ...

See also

• Prince Rupert of the Rhine, who is credited by some as inventing the process

Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria (German: Ruprecht Pfalzgraf bei Rhein, Herzog von Bayern), commonly called Prince Rupert of the Rhine, (17 December 1619 – 19 November 1682), soldier and inventor, was a younger son of Frederick V, Elector Palatine and Elizabeth Stuart, and the nephew of King...

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