Chez les Trappistes

Rops was an inventive printmaker, often experimenting with different techniques and revisiting his printed imagery. In his later years, Rops used heliogravure, a photomechanical process, to transfer existing images to a copper plate, which he then reworked with an etching needle. The central image, a replication of his lithograph depicting Trappist monks previously published ca. 1865, is surrounded by additional etched figure studies. This impression is a proof that the artist pulled to check his progress; the line of spilled ink along the left side of the sheet indicates that this print is a work in progress.