<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> Mezzotint is a printmaking process of the intaglio family, technically a drypoint method . It was the first tonal method to be used, enabling half - tones to be produced without using line - or dot - based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple . Mezzotint achieves tonality by roughening a metal plate with thousands of little dots made by a metal tool with small teeth, called a "rocker". In printing, the tiny pits in the plate hold the ink when the face of the plate is wiped clean . A high level of quality and richness in the print can be achieved . </P> <P> The mezzotint printmaking method was invented by the German amateur artist Ludwig von Siegen (1609--c. 1680). His earliest mezzotint print dates to 1642 and is a portrait of Countess Amalie Elisabeth of Hanau - Münzenberg . This was made by working from light to dark . The rocker seems to have been invented by Prince Rupert of the Rhine, a famous cavalry commander in the English Civil War, who was the next to use the process, and took it to England . Sir Peter Lely saw the potential for using it to publicise his portraits, and encouraged a number of Dutch printmakers to come to England . The process was especially widely used in England from the mid-eighteenth century, to reproduce portraits and other paintings . Since the mid-nineteenth century it has been relatively little used . Robert Kipniss and Peter Ilsted are two notable 20th - century exponents of the technique; M.C. Escher also made eight mezzotints . </P>

What is the main purpose of a mezzotint
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