Jacques Bellange - the Annunciation

In Jacques Bellange’s The Annunciation, from the late 16th to early 17th century, the technique of etching and stippling was put into play. Its works such as this one that lead me to believe the idea of halftones got planted in the heads of people once technology came along far enough to allow for newer techniques to be experimented with.

This is achieved by lightly and repeatedly stabbing the grounded etching plate with an etching needle. After the plate is etched each of the little stabs will print as a small dot. The effect of hundreds of these dots is a subtle tonal passage. Bellange combined stippling and normal line etching.