The Cosmology of Renaissance Dots

JFPtak Science Books   Quick Post  History of Dots series 
 

It has been quite a while since my last contribution to this series, and I'm sorry that this addition is such a quick one--it is, however, unexpected and lovely.

The engraving, "Monument of Nicholas Gaynesford and his Wives in Carshalton¹ Church" was published in Lyson's The Environs of London, 1796 (though this may be reprinted just a bit later), and depicts the very large monument to Gaynesford (1471-1548). What is particularly remarkable for me is the incredible stipple work that forms the background. On first glance the background treatment seems to be solid, but there is something else there that gives it a depth and causes the collection of stark white figures to seemingly float on the page.  This is the cause:

This detail is about 20 square millimeters from the original and is just absolutely filled with small dots.  A closer look reveals even more:

There's a few hundred thousand of these marks in the image, which measures only about 35 square inches. 

Notes

1. And this from The Environs of London: volume 1: County of Surrey, by Daniel Lyson, published in 1792, on the entry for "Carshalton", pp 122-136:

Tomb of Gaynesford.

Against the north wall of the chancel, near the communion table, is an altar tomb of Purbeck marble; over it is fixed in the wall a large slab of the same materials, on which are upright figures of Nicholas Gaynesford, and his family, as represented in the annexed plate. These figures have been gilded and enamelled; the enamel, in which the drapery of the wife has been painted, still remains, which is a circumstance rarely to be met with in tombs of this kind. Her head-dress, remarkable for its extraordinary size, corresponds with other specimens of the same date; her robe, which has close sleeves, is of red, edged with gold; of the four sons, it may be observed, that the eldest appears in armour as the esquire, the second is habited as a priest, and the third and fourth as merchants; Gaynesford himself appears in armour, kneeling on one knee; his gauntlet and sword are at his feet.

Comments

[Alex Aranovich]

This stippling is usually produced with a tool called a mezzotint rocker. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mezzotint

I love your blog, by the way.

[Christopher Fahey]

It looks more like an aquatint, a later invention, where a powder resist is sprinkled on the plate, melted in place, then dropped in the acid. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatint

[John F. Ptak]

Thanks Christopher and Alex for those production/tech notes. I guess I was a little misleading with the title--I state that the print was made in 1796 but refer to the Renaissance dots part of the original, so I guess I muddied it up a little.