The process was apparently used as a means of decorating metal some time before prints were taken. The earliest-known etching is dated 1513. Among the first to use the process was Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), who between 1515 and 1518 produced six plates on iron, showing great power and precision, but hardly realizing all the qualities of the medium. Among his followers, the German Little Masters, Hans Sebald Beham and Albrecht Altdorfer were responsible for some interesting plates, as was Lucas van Leyden (1494-1533), the Dutchman. Among the earliest Italian etchers were Francesco Mazzuoli (1503-40) and Andrea Schiavone (1522-82), who show more freedom and delicacy than the Germans. But at this time etching was mainly the by-product of artists whose chief work was painting or engraving. Its great period opened in the seventeenth century. Jacques Callot (1592-1635), born at Nancy, who worked there and at Rome, produced about one thousand plates of small size, the most important being two series of the Miseries of War. He is remarkable for his fine sense of design, the fantastic, grotesque quality of his figures, and the delicacy and
variety of his line, obtained by rebiting and by combining engraving with etching. Claude Lorrain (1600-82), the landscape painter, possibly under the influence of Callot, produced some fifty plates, very delicately etched, and suggestive of atmosphere. Sir Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641), beside being court painter to Charles I of England, was the greatest Flemish etcher of his day. His eighteen etched portraits of famous contemporaries (fifteen of which were included in his Iconography, published 1645), in their direct handling and vivid characterization, are among the finest work of the kind ever done. But the central figure in etching, not only of the seventeenth century but of all time, is Rembrandt van Ryn (1606-69), whose work is unrivalled both in quality and influence. His etchings show the same realism, understanding of humanity, and creative imagination which mark all his work. Roughly, they fall into three groups, according to the time at which they were produced. In the first period, the ordinary etched line is mainly used, and the artist is evidently feeling his way; in the second, chiaroscuro is more marked, and dry-point used freely; in the third, the handling is very free and vigorous, chiaroscuro becomes the dominant feature, and dry-point the usual method. Development on these lines marks all his plates, which consist of (1) portraits, e.g. Jan Six (c. 1646) and Clement de Jonghe (1651); (2) figure compositions, many of scriptural subjects, which include the masterpiece Christ receiving Little Children (c. 1650), commonly known as 'The Hundred Guilder Print'; (3) landscapes, e.g. The Goldweigher's Field, the least numerous class, but one which has inspired the greatest mass of work. The Dutch painters contemporary with or following Rembrandt were in some cases prolific etchers, notably Ferdinand Bol and Adrian van Ostade, and reproduce in that medium the characteristics of their painting. In the eighteenth century etching fell somewhat into disuse, save in Italy, where G. B. Tiepolo (1696-1770), the decorative painter, produced some fifty plates, and Antonio Canale (Canaletto, 1697-1768) showed in his few etchings the same power to express structure and aerial perspective as in his painting. More prolific was G. B. Piranesi (1720-88), who published a series of views of the Classical and Renaissance architecture of Rome, professedly with an archæological aim, but of great artistic interest. His imaginative power, bold design, and vigorous handling are best seen in the fantastic plates of his Carceri. In England, William Hogarth (1697-1764) produced a few etchings; Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827), the caricaturist, used etching as the basis of his aquatints; and John Crome (1768-1821), the landscape painter, etched some characteristic plates. But it was Francisco Goya (1746-1828) whose work ushered in a new era. His bitterly satirical Caprichos (1793-6, 72 plates), Proverbios (1810-5, 18 plates), Desastres de la Guerra (c. 1810, 82 plates), and the more popular but no less remarkable Tauromaquia (c. 1815, 33 plates illustrating bull-fighting), in all of which the bitten line is allied with aquatint, show a powerful and fantastic imagination, brilliant design and draughtsmanship, and superb technique. Widely different in character are the 71 plates of the Liber Studiorum, one of the most remarkable works of J. M. W. Turner (1775-1851). In these etching merely provides the ground plan for the use of mezzotint, or, more rarely, aquatint. In the nineteenth century the revival inaugurated by Goya was carried on in France by several of the Barbizon group of landscape painters, notably by J. F. Millet (1814-75), responsible for some simple but impressive plates. A more important figure as an etcher is Alphonse Legros (1837-1911), whose admirable portraits recall those of Van Dyck, though elsewhere he shows something of Goya's taste for the grotesque. This last also appears in the work of Charles Méryon (1821-68), one of the greatest of French etchers, whose feeling for decorative design and decisive handling are best seen in his views of Paris. Apart from other etchers of the period are Jules Jacquemart and Félix Braquemond, remarkable for their exquisite delicacy in the reproduction of surface texture. Of the Impressionist painters, Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) produced some very individual plates, marked by the use of broken lines and much rebiting, in the effort to secure atmospheric effect. Similarly, by means of open shading and absence of outline, Anders Zorn (1860-1918), the Swede, has aimed at reproducing the play of light round objects; but his portraits are his best work. The chief figure in nineteenth-century etching, however, is J. A. M‘N. Whistler (1834-1903), whose French Set (1858), Thames Set (1871), Venice Set (1880), and Twenty-six Etchings (1886) show his delicate yet decisive handling, his economy of means, his feeling for design, and his power of securing luminosity and atmosphere. Part of his success was due to insistence upon printing his own plates. His brother-in-law, Sir Francis Seymour Haden (1818-1910), the distinguished doctor, also took a prominent part in the revival of etching, and in his plates showed remarkable skill. The same accomplishment marks the work of William Strang, A.R.A. (died 1921), who has produced many notable portraits of contemporary celebrities, including R. L. Stevenson and Thomas Hardy. Another artist of great technical skill, excelling in the use of dry-point, is Félicien Rops (1833-98), a Belgian, whose
work is remarkable for its union of satire and licentiousness. The most notable living etchers are chiefly found in England, and include Sir Frank Short, famous also for his mezzotints; D. Y. Cameron, a disciple of Whistler, though of marked individuality in his treatment of architecture; Muirhead Bone, whose architectural work is unrivalled and has inspired many followers; James M‘Bey; and Augustus John, who stands apart from his contemporaries in his preference for figure subjects. In France, Jean-Louis Forain has produced some remarkable work, notably series dealing with the life of Christ, and with Lourdes, which show his satiric power and a very distinctive technique. See Engraving.—Bibliography: A. M. Hind, A Short History of Engraving and Etching (very complete and authoritative). For technical details, M. Lalanne, Etching; Paton, Etching and Mezzotint Engraving.
Ete´ocles and Polyni´ces, two heroes of ancient Greek legend, sons of Œdipus, King of Thebes. After their father's banishment from Thebes, Eteocles usurped the throne to the exclusion of his brother, an act which led to an expedition of Polynices and six others against Thebes. This war is known as the Seven against Thebes, and forms the basis of Æschylus's The Seven against Thebes. The two brothers fell by each other's hand. See Antigone.
Ete´sian Winds (Gr. etos, year), winds which, blowing over the Mediterranean regions from a general northerly direction during some weeks of the summer, replace the heated air that rises from the Sahara and other parts of Africa. By carrying with them moisture from the sea, they add greatly to the fertility of Egypt.
Ethane, (C2H6), a hydrocarbon belonging to the paraffin series. It is a colourless inflammable gas, and is found amongst the gaseous constituents of the Pennsylvanian oil-wells.
Eth´elbert, King of Kent, born about A.D. 560, died 616. He succeeded his father, Hermenric, and reduced all the English states, except Northumberland, to the condition of his dependents. Ethelbert married Bertha, the daughter of Caribert, King of Paris, and a Christian princess, an event which led indirectly to the introduction of Christianity into England by St. Augustine. Ethelbert was the first English king to draw up a code of laws.
Ethelbert, King of England, son of Ethelwulf, succeeded to the government of the eastern side of the kingdom in A.D. 857, and in 860, on the death of his brother Ethelbald, became sole king. His reign was much disturbed by the inroads of the Danes. He died in 866.
Eth´elred I, King of England, son of Ethelwulf, succeeded his brother Ethelbert in A.D. 866. The Danes became so formidable in his reign as to threaten the conquest of the whole kingdom. Ethelred died in consequence of a wound received in an action with the Danes in 871, and was succeeded by his brother Alfred.
Ethelred II, King of England, son of Edgar, born A.D. 968, succeeded his brother, Edward the Martyr, in 978, and, for his want of vigour and capacity, was surnamed the Unready. In his reign began the practice of buying off the Danes by presents of money. After repeated payments of tribute, he effected, in 1002, a massacre of the Danes; but this led to Sweyn gathering a large force together and carrying fire and sword through the country. They were again bribed to depart; but, upon a new invasion, Sweyn obliged the nobles to swear allegiance to him as King of England; while Ethelred, in 1013, fled to Normandy. On the death of Sweyn he was invited to resume the government, and died at London in the midst of his struggle with Canute (1016).