Impression quality is of great importance in teaching the history of printmaking. Here are two impressions of the same etching; they were printed from the same plate, but by two different hands, several years apart. The impression at left was printed by Jusepe de Ribera himself. The artist left a thin film of ink on the surface of the plate when he printed it to enrich the tonal range of his varied mark making and, accordingly, to intensify the dramatic content of his subject matter. The impression at right was printed by the Flemish engraver and publisher Frans van den Wyngaerde (1614-1679). By the time van den Wyngaerde acquired Ribera’s etching plate, it was worn down from printing many impressions. Despite van den Wyngaerde’s reworking of the plate to revive the contrasts of light and dark—this is most evident in the pronounced outline of the saint’s upper body—the etched lines are now fainter and less distinct. Van den Wyngaerde’s impression may speak to the longevity of the etching plate, but does not do justice to Ribera’s original vision.