The artist then draws or carves his design into the grounded plate, which has been blacked by smoke. This leaves bright drawn lines against the blackened ground. Acid is then applied to the surface of the metal plate. The acid dissolves away the bright metal lines, but does not dissolve through the ground. These lines, that the acid has dissolved, hold the ink for the print.
Moist paper is applied to the metal plate, the design is transferred, and the print is finished.
Despite the fact that religious subjects were unpopular in 17 th century Holland, Rembrandt was a great fan of depicting them in various medians. One of his largest and most mysterious etchings is The Three Crosses. After the etching wore down, Rembrandt reworked the composition, changing the plate almost entirely, leaving only three things the same. And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.