Line engraving involves cutting or scraping into a metal plate(usually copper) using a tool called a burin. Shaded areas of the resulting print are formed by scraping lines closer together or by hatching. This technique requires a great deal of skill because the burin is pushed along and into the surface of the plate: a steady hand is needed so that it does not slip and it must be held at the correct angle.

Thomas Arne (1710-1778) was one of the few English composers of prominence in the mid eighteenth century. He composed a number of operas, masques, orchestral works and music for plays, but is best known for the patriotic song ‘Rule Britannia’ from the masque Alfred (1740).

The artist Robert Dunkarton (1744-c.1811) was known for his portraits in oils and crayons and was a successful mezzotint engraver. His work was exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1768 and, between 1774 and 1779, at the Royal Academy. William Humphrey was an eighteenth-century mezzotint engraver born around 1740; he made engravings after portraitists such as Kneller and Reynolds.

This is a half-length portrait of Arne, who is shown in a fur-trimmed coat, holding a manuscript to denote his musical profession - it was common in portraits of this period to have some object which indicated the sitter’s profession. This engraving was produced after Arne’s death, probably as a book illustration.