The Functional Print Within the Print Market of the Late Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Century in Northern Europe and Italy
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THE FUNCTIONAL PRINT WITHIN THE PRINT MARKET OF THE LATE FIFTEENTH AND EARLY SIXTEENTH CENTURY IN NORTHERN EUROPE AND ITALY Lyndsay Bennion A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS December 2006 Committee: Dr. Allison Terry, Advisor Dr. Andrew Hershberger © 2006 Lyndsay Bennion All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Dr. Allison Terry, Advisor The focus of my thesis is the print market of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. This market was a byproduct of the trade-based economy of Venice and cities in Northern Europe. The multiplicity of prints allowed for their widespread circulation among these cities. Religious prints were the first type of print to be disseminated via the various trade routes. Such prints experienced an immense popularity due to the devotional climate of early Renaissance society. Most often, they were utilized by consumers as devotional tools. Yet as the print market grew, so too did the tastes of consumers. A new type emerged who viewed the print as an art object and used it accordingly; collecting it and storing it away within their private print cabinets. It is these two different functions of the print that I am most interested in exploring. My intent is to view the print as a functional object whose use changed depending on the type of consumer who purchased it. The differing functions of the print resulted in a segmentation of the market into a larger devotional market and a much smaller fine print market. Printmakers acknowledged the existence of these two markets by creating works to specifically appeal to consumers within each. Thus printmakers acted as both artists and entrepreneurs. Albrecht Dürer was one such printmaker. His Small Passion (1509- 1511) series and his Engraved Passion (1507-1512) series effectively demonstrate how he created works to appeal to consumers in both markets. Such strategic rendering calls for the print to be seen less as an act of artistic genius and more as a highly devised entrepreneurial endeavor intended to attract a specific consumer. iv To my family v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my Advisor, Dr. Allison Terry, for all of her help and encouragement. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTERNATIONAL PRINT MARKET ............................ 5 THE FUNCTIONALITY OF THE DEVOTIONAL PRINT ................................................ 7 PRINTS AND THE PRACTICE OF COLLECTING........................................................... 16 ALBRECHT DÜRER AND THE PRINT MARKET........................................................... 23 CONCLUDING REMARKS................................................................................................. 38 BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................................. 40 FIGURES CONSULTED ...................................................................................................... 43 1 Joos van Cleve’s painting The Annunciation (c. 1525) is situated within a room similar to many found in the homes of the German and Netherlandish upper-class. The work illustrates typical devotional practices in the early sixteenth century. Within the room, devotional tools are clearly placed: the home altar showing Abraham and Melchizedek stands against the back wall, an elaborately decorated book of hours rests on the prie-dieu upon which the Virgin kneels, and a colored woodblock print of Moses is affixed to the back wall. The inclusion of these objects, and the Virgin’s use of them, suggests that they were utilized within the daily devotional practices of Renaissance people.1 The altar, prie-dieu and book of hours have the clearest discernable functions within this context: the altar was utilized in the same manner as a church altar would be with the devotee praying before it, while the function of the prie-dieu lies within its name, which translates literally to pray or beg to God, and books of hours were used as prayer aids. The only devotional tool that’s use is possibly unclear is the print, which Maryan W. Ainsworth has described as being “indifferently tacked to the wall” and considers to be a “cheap devotional image.”2 Save for these brief mentions, she devotes no further discussion to how the work might have functioned within a devotional context. The print is worth additional consideration on these grounds alone. It played a vital role within devotional and non-devotional practices of the early sixteenth century, a role which Ainsworth has chosen to ignore. 1 Maryan W.Ainsworth and Keith Christiansen, eds. From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York: Abrams, 1998), 364. 2 Ibid, 364. Beyond these characterizations Ainsworth dismisses it as unimportant save for its image of Moses, who she believes to be an Old Testament prefiguration of the Eucharist. 2 This paper will explore the function of the print. My intent is to consider prints as functional objects. Previous scholars have ignored the importance of prints as functional objects and have therefore failed to see the impact that the way in which consumers’ utilization of the print defined the larger market.3 The functional potential with which consumers approached prints helped shape the development of the print market by dividing it into two distinct segments: one utilized the print in a devotional capacity, whereas the other considered the print to be an art object due to its formal value and content. It is from the former use of the print that the later developed. As functional objects, prints were representative of two defined spheres: the sacred and the profane.4 When used as devotional objects prints became associated with the sacred and served as key components within devotional practices. Prints utilized within the second segment of the market tended to be connected to the profane. Their material value replaced their sacred value. They no longer merely functioned in conjunction with a higher belief system. Rather, they were simply valued for their aesthetics or socio-religious commentary. Printmakers targeted their works to appeal to both the devotional and fine print market. Yet by targeting these two markets printmakers acknowledged that a functional division existed between the two. Albrecht Dürer’s Small Passion (1509-1511) and Engraved Passion (1507-1512) series demonstrate how printmakers consciously tailored their prints to appeal to the two segments of the market. These works support the 3Mark J. Zucker, The Illustrated Bartsch: Early Italian Masters. ed. Walter L. Strauss. Vol. 25. (New York: Abaris, 1984). 4 Emile Durkheim, “Ritual, Magic, and the Sacred,” in Readings in Ritual Studies (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1996), 188. 3 division of the early Renaissance print market based on the ability of the print to function as an object in multiple capacities. The print included in Cleve’s Annunciation stands as a symbol of “devotional efficacy” and represents the fervency of devotional piety that gripped early sixteenth century Europe.5 The print belonged to a genre of devotional woodcuts that comprised much of the international print market at that time. Two different types of prints existed within the market. The first of these referenced specific pilgrimage shrines, relics, cult paintings or sculptures. These prints also functioned as sacred objects and were used in a variety of ways for the purposes of prayer, intercession and protection.6 In addition, they served as visual links to miraculous experiences that occurred at the shrines where they were sold.7 The second types of prints within this devotional market were those with religious imagery that did not reference a specific shrine or preexisting religious work. These were utilized in the same manner as the above mentioned prints. Early sixteenth century printmakers produced numerous prints of generic Biblical subjects. These prints were often used within the context of private devotional practices. Individuals would glue them inside prayer books, or as with the Cleve print, tack them to a wall where they could take in the subject as a source of religious inspiration or as a moral reminder. Both types of prints were utilized as functional objects. This functionality is not addressed within Cleve’s painting since the print is merely tacked to the back wall and the Virgin is not depicted interacting with it. 5 David S. Areford, “The Sacred Multiple: The Early Printed Image as Reproduction and Simulation.” (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Conference, 2006), 2. 6 Ibid, 2. 7 Ibid, 3. 4 Yet the functionality of the print within the early sixteenth century was not restricted to only devotional practices. Another type of print emerged within this time period that functioned differently from the types of devotional prints discussed above. These prints were the product of the evolution of the print industry—as the medium evolved the print was utilized by new consumers for different purposes. They were not necessarily tacked to a wall or pasted into a prayer book where they acted as prayer aids. These prints were instead collected and stored away, in essence becoming an art form versus a devotional or functional object. Despite their different functions these new prints shared the same religious subject matter as devotional