A form of printmaking in which a metal plate is covered with a substance called a 'ground', usually wax, into which an image is drawn with a needle. Acid is applied, eroding the areas of the plate exposed but not the areas covered by wax. The action of the acid creates lines in the metal plate that hold the ink from which a print is made when the plate is pressed against paper under pressure.

Biography
Born
1746
Died
1828
Nationality
Spanish
Birth place
Spanish
Death place
Bordeaux
Goya was an original and enigmatic artist, equally gifted as a painter and printmaker. His appointment in 1786 as painter to the Spanish King Charles IV followed a period in Madrid where he had moved from the north east of Spain. Goya's reputation was built on a variety of works, including religious and historical paintings, portraits and designs for the Royal Tapestry Works. A serious illness in 1793 left him permanently deaf. His etchings illustrate his vivid imagination, exploring man's folly in 'Los Caprichos' and recording man's brutality in 'The Disasters of War'. He spent his last years in Bordeaux, France.
Glossary terms
Etching
Exhibitions
Ended
The Discovery of Spain: British Artists and Collectors: Goya to Picasso
- Ended Sun 11 Oct 2009
National