My husband Francesco and I created an engraving tool to help those who dedicate themselves to mezzotint.
Mezzotint is a very difficult direct technique: it requires great skill, enormous sensitivity and also infinite patience. Only when all these elements are present can good results be obtained.
To make a mezzotint engraving it is necessary to prepare the metal plate with a process of roughening.
The metal plate (preferably copper) is worked with a berceaux to obtain a surface that holds the ink evenly. Where the print needs to have white or grey areas, the engraver will smooth the surface.
Although I have never made a mezzotint, I know people who do. So I involved my husband in the creation of a tool that would make the work of graniture easier and faster.
The prototype was created for a berceaux by Miroballi, a company producing artisanal fine art objects in Rome.
A type of this instrument had already been made, but Francesco had the idea of adding an angle adjustment system.
Adding weights make the jig ready to work.
We asked Lucia Piu, one of the engravers at the Trastevere laboratory expert in mezzotint, to test the tool: it passed her exam!
Here is a detail of one of her works created with this technique.
