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Faculty Publications and Creative Activity, School of Art, Art History and Design Art, Art History and Design, School of

1980

Early Woodcut Workshops

Alison Stewart University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected]

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Stewart, Alison, "Early Woodcut Workshops" (1980). Faculty Publications and Creative Activity, School of Art, Art History and Design. 17. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/artfacpub/17

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Art, Art History and Design, School of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications and Creative Activity, School of Art, Art History and Design by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. AlisonG. Stewart Early Woodcut Workshops

Art Journal, vol. 39 (1980), pp. 189-194.

Alison G.Stewart, currently on a Fulbright-Haysin Munich, is a doctoral candidate at Columbia University. Fig.1Jost Amman, itinerantcraftsmen or bycraftsmen work- Draftsmanand Block ingwithin monastery walls. Itinerant crafts- "INA Cutter,woodcuts from men wereexempt from guild regulations JostAmman and Hans NO becausethey did not fulfillthe guild pre- Sachs,Stindebuch requisiteof holdingcitizenship in the town [Bookof Trades], 1568. in which they worked.Those working Vienna,Albertina. withinmonastery walls were also exempt from governmentregulations that often madeit difficultto copypictures. Pressure 6~lP for suchregulations came from the paint- ers'guilds, whose members felt threatened by competitionfrom the new woodcut medium.Woodcuts, such as the Tegernsee ALL. Crucifixion,were often hand-colored or OTZ stencilled,which made them resemble painting and especially manuscript illumination.1 Towhat extent were the needs of religion Fig.1 Fig.1 responsiblefor the productionof early Littleis knownabout the workshops of the fourteenthcentury in northernEurope, woodcuts?Were there other craftsmen, earliestprint masters. The size of these afterpaper became available in goodsup- suchas painters,who also designed early shops,as wellas thenames and wages of ply.It is believedthat textile printers and woodcuts?Were woodcuts sold in towns theindividuals involved, has often just not other craftsmentook advantageof that only at churchesor also at fairs,as they comedown to us.Furthermore, division of availabilityby cuttingrather simple designs wereat the turn of thecentury? Were early laborvaried so widelyfrom shop to shop andprinting them onto paper. These crafts- fifteenth-centuryworkshops important thatthe meanings of specificterms denot- menwere required to belongeither to the centersof production,whose records have ingthe different professions are sometimes Formschneider,the woodcutters'guild, justnot comedown to us, or didmonas- unclear.Yet throughout the first 150 years or, whereno woodcutters'guild existed, teriesat that time also serve as print work- of thehistory of thewoodcut--ca. 1400 to to thecarpenters' guild. shops? 1550-its greatestperiod, the division of In the earlyfifteenth century, monks The mannerin whichwoodcuts were labor commonin workshopproduction expandedtheir normal scribal duties be- printedduring the first half of thefifteenth was also standardfor the productionof yond manuscriptillumination to include century,whether in monasteriesor else- woodcuts.That division included the sep- woodcutdesign and possibly even cutting. where,influenced the quality of impression arationof designer,cutter, and sometimes Religiousthemes predominated in these andperhaps even the price and the market also printer(Fig.1). Througha discus- earlywoodcuts, and theiraudience was as well.Woodcuts that date from 1400 to sionof earlywoodcut production, division the pious on pilgrimageroutes and in 1425 were hand-printedby placingthe of labor,and the woodcutaudience, this towns. The Tegernsee Crucifixion blockface down on a sheetof paper.The articlewill addressthe problemsof the (Fig.2), with the coat of arms of the result:uneven inking that was too heavy in identityof the hands,the natureof the Tegernseemonastery in UpperBavaria, is some areas, too weak in others.From work, and the approachesinvolved in a well-knownexample of theseearly relig- about1425 to 1475,however, the paper woodcutproduction. iouswoodcuts. wasplaced on topof theblock and rubbed Printswere firstproduced in the late Suchwoodcuts were probablycut by by handwith a woodenimplement. Be- Spring 1980 189 causegreater pressure was used, the print- wasmore butit created embossed ing even, XX- lines on the back of the paper,making printingon both sides of the sheet- whichwas required for book illustrations and text-impossible.During the second and thirdquarters of thefifteenth century woodcutlines became thinner and hatching wasintroduced, changes made possible in -77? partby improvementsin thewoodcutting technique.2 By 1450, aboutthe timemovable type ST was invented,professional woodcutters were importantenough to demandthat onlymembers of their guilds or thecarpen- ters' be allowedto cutwoodblocks guilds H-M f forbook illustrations. In1468 in Augsburg, for example,the printerGiinther Zainer had difficultyafter his arrivalfrom Stras- bourg in gettinghis work under way becauseof guildpressure and the jealousy betweenthe older tradesand the new Ai printingindustry. It seemsthat he hadnot Al.. agreedto use guildwoodcutters, possibly becausehe cuthis own blocks.3 Was Zainer

-:-----:--':-lii~E:--i -.-;:~l-~~~~_i l -~-ii-i~i:-ii ? _-iii: Fig.2 Anonymous :-?:-:-- i-iii??_i:i ii:iiiiiiiiiiaii _i:-ii-ii- ----iiiil?iiiiii:iiiii i-i:- I._;i:i:ii--i: - ?_i::.:_:i:iiii :i::l ii:i---li-i-?--_-::~_. :: i: -i '::-:':" ?-::-i-?- :-::::::: :::::.: :::::- : :i?ii":::-: :-:: --: -; - :ii?i_:--i: Germanartist, Tegernsee ::I:__:,,,,,~::i:li.i~:i:liI:i- ;:::::?:--':--?''iii-ii.iiii~i--:;i-:::-:?:_--_;:~--:? ::- : ::- :-:::: ::: B;.i::i- -Ei:~~i: -_i___ ~:P~ii::--iiis:Biiii~ii _iii-i--:"-i:_:l -:-i.:-~---_~~1,?~ Crucifixion,woodcut, ca. K2: N? 1420-40.Nuremberg, 01A- VMS'0 ::i:'-phil:-i~li:iiiii: -i'i--ii-i:i:::-:: ' : A a_:::--i ----i:-:-:?--:-iii 7.5f>0, Germanisches :::: :?-: :-:??:- :::::i?ii.?ii-:::? _I:-i:ii:ii-i:i---?- :, iiiiiiiiiiiiii-iiiiiii:ii:::i ii.::::.?-:li::i:-::- IIAU\\\\~,w~L;,~J ?RFN ''"'::'-'-: : : -':i;r??-::iiiiii-l--ii::~ ::_-i~:-:::1_~:_--_i-:ii:i.iii-oiii--::'i-:i:ii::::::: :?:-:--:: ::: :::: . : ~~ Nationalmuseum. '.ai:i~~i~iii~i_; _ii~iii~i~ip ~~~I;-:;-:-. --::::: - T4 W.W :::::::::l:~:i:--:-~:in--~ii~~~~?::::::--- ;~~~-C- ~ :::::::?:::::::? ::u-::-:::::i-:~--i:::::':-i:----..-i-:- "''~s:9~':-;::-:i--5`?;:?::i--::j_ Fig.3 AlbrechtDiirer, ::-: --i-;i ::iii:- --::--ii-iii~ :--:::::-:_:::: TheFour Horsemen, bs-~ib :-::: --: 1497-98, woodcut. :::::::-;---:-::::::~-:~; :: NewYork, The i i?iiiii-?i -i--i:: : : ":::-: :::-i :'ii i~iiii~iiri:iii`i:iili::4i:isiii iiiii--~:-:i i:-_i;:--il--i: _._.,_:i:_iii- :i?i:::::::::-::;:::,::::i :::::: -a:i--::??-?--i-:r:-:::::::-:?:::::::':'j':~?':'-::? -.::::?::: :-:- ::-:i-iiil-i,-::ii:~--:: :: i--- i:i:i:i : ;I-li~i~ MetropolitanMuseum of i~-iiiiiiii-~:i~~l:~:,ai,:-,i~~~,iiiiisi--~-F-~i:_-ii-a~iPiiii?- :,ii-i :: i :?--:-::;:- -i?l~~i -i-i~-~~iii~ii:~a-:"-~'i:~r~-~ai~-i~~~ Art,GiftofJuniusS. .. ?-::i:i.-. -.--?~_--iiii?$~i~:-i~ii~i 1919. Sii--w?.i:i:-i-ili-i?~i:rii~b~-:i---i ::':r: .. _::-; -:i~iiiiiibi: Morgan, :ii.i:_i::-- Fig.3 ::: : : ...::_i?i -:--~' -5'~B:-:-iiiii-ii-~-:iiiii-iii?::i:~ii:::: ::?iiii-i?:i:iioiii~ii:iiii:i:iiiiii~iii:: ii-iiiiii-ii-iiiiiii?~iis one location? andsmall details? Would ?isiiiiii:i-iii~i:i:.~~,E:i~-~"?~riii:-::. i:-:.iiiiiiiia-:-~:~ shade,relief, any ::-i::-:iiiiiii:-: - :-ii?!i-i:b~i- ~-s,,-:-?.:----:.i:lan;~~r~~-ls~ ::::::- :i: :- :::_-:: Themethod employed for transferringof these elementshave been indicated -:::'A;:::::-- I:i-:-:-:::::-'--:-:-::il~:::11::;.:-j:;i-:im~::l-'~:::-:i:;:::::i-?:i_:_- ::::::;:--:i-?I;:- ::::-:r::::; '-':'-?i-:: :--:~::l?::::::::L_: ::::il:_l~)~:; the designis alsoproblematic. The design throughdiagonal shading or througha :.::-.:::-:-: ::-,:?ii--i--:_:ia-,ii9i:ii--:. ii--8:_ijiii:.::?:::i:I:-: i -::-ji?i-i-i:::-d---~ii--iii.i-i:i::~ir; i-:: --: ::::::-:-:-:-:?::::: could havebeen floppedonto the block languagethat was under- ':.I: :::: ::-:: : :::: : : specificgraphic andthen greased for transparency, or the stoodby both designer and cutter? Was the :':::-:-:: drawingcould havebeen transferredto woodcuttergiven freedom to interpretand Fig.2 the blockby pouncing. It seemsprobable varythe design, or washe responsiblefor resistingthe general trend towards greatly that Diirer'sApocalypse woodcuts of producingan exactcopy? Did the general- enlargedworkshops by cuttinghis own 1497-98(Fig.3) werecut fromdetailed ized drawinggive way to the detailedas blocksand shunning guild woodcutters?4 drawings that were gluedto the blocks. woodcutcompositions and design became A host of relatedquestions come to Later,for his Coatof Armsof Michael more complexduring the courseof the mind. Wherewere woodcutsnormally Behaim, of about 1510-11 (Fig.4), fifteenthcentury? printed?Did monks as wellas textileprint- Diirer probablydrew directlyonto the A systematicstudy of extantfifteenth- ers andcutters print and cut woodblocks? block,as he implieshe did in a letterto and sixteenth-centurywoodblocks could Is it possiblethat textile printers and crafts- Behaimthat is locatedon theback of the yeildimportant information about drawing men alwayscut andprinted their works block.5Drawing directly onto the wood- procedure,the signingof woodblocks whereasmonks designed and only some- blockwas notcommon until the sixteenth (whichwas often done on theback of the times did the cuttingand printing?Did centurywhen woodcutswere apparentlyblock), differencesin cuttingand design monks take their designsto specialists turnedout withincreased speed. Prior to (if thedrawing still exists), and differences who did the cuttingfor themor did the directdrawing, whether the designer or the in cuttingprocedures for individual blocks. cuttersand printerscome to the monks? cutterwas responsiblefor transferring the Wasthe cutting of a blockdivided between Howdid the introductionof the printing designonto the block is notknown. cutters--masterand pupil, for example-- press,which is stationarybecause of its The relationof the drawingto the or wasone handresponsible for an entire largesize, affectthe production of wood- finishedprint is difficultto determinebe- block?Did the cutting of woodblocksbe- cutsafter 1475? In other words, how many cause of the scarcityof extantdrawings. come moreregular with the wider use of individualswere involvedin the cutting Weredrawings general, showing only out- professionalwoodcutters in the sixteenth andprinting of a woodblock,and did the lines and roughschema, or specific,in- century? processtake placein one or morethan cludingelements such as space,light and Theinformation about woodcutters that 190 ArtJournal Fig. 4 AlbrechtDiirer, Coatof Arms of Michael Behaim(Councillor of Nuremberg),ca. 1510-11,woodblock. NewYork, The Pierpont MorganLibrary.

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Fig.4 has comedown to us is alsoproblematic. becomecommon. *Maria**sterre* (Mari- mut's Schatzbehalter,issued by Anton The marks,initials, and namesincluded asternwas a monasterynear Gouda) as Kobergerin 1491, one pageof whichis on morethan 150 fifteenth-century wood- well as Hanns spoerer and Wolfgang signedWolfgang in the margin.A cutter cuts referto designers,printers, or, most hamer,names of menwho were active in namedCaspar, active in the latefifteenth probably,woodcutters. Not until the late Nurembergin the secondhalf of thecen- centuryin Regensburg,still signed only his fifteenthcentury did the full name, rather tury,are a fewexamples.6 Hamer was prob- firstname to his St. Florian(Fig.5).7 In than the familiarname or monogram, ablyone of the cuttersfor Michael Wolge- Nuremberg,no documentsfrom the fif- Spring 1980 191 teenthcentury mention painters who were he hadroom in his printingshop for 100 the drawingand woodcutpoints to the activeas woodcutters,probably because craftsmenand twenty-four presses as well problemsinvolved in earlyprint studies; theNuremberg branch of the woodcutters' as space for storingand correctingthe evenwhen what is apparentlya drawing guild was not officiallyestablished until woodblocks.'2 fora woodcutexists, which is rareindeed, 1498.8 TheChronicle was probably produced it is difficultto knowhow to interpretthe Mightthe trainingof woodcuttersbe in muchthe same manner as a contempo- relationshipbetween the two. Does the illuminatedin partby an investigationof raryNuremberg publication that, though differencein qualitymean simply that it work contracts,notices of payment,and neverprinted, has a contractdating from was easierat thattime to producea fine reportsabout legal disputes? Was a wood- 1496, which lists seven payments:for drawingthan a finewoodcut, which was cutter'straining similar to thatof a paint- proofreading,copying the exemplarsor certainlythe case?Or does it meanthat er's, whichconsisted of a two-to-six-yearlayouts, buying the paper,designing the there was a differencein the hands apprenticeshipafter which came the illustrations,buying the blocks,drawing involved? Wanderjahre,or journeymanyears?9 theillustrations onto the blocks, and cutting Muchmore informationabout late- Werewoodcutters apprenticed under the the blocks.Thus four or five craftsmen fifteenth-centuryprintmaking has come same roof with other artisans,such as mayhave worked as designersand block- downto us thanabout that of theearly part painters,or onlywith other woodcutters? cutters on theChronicle project. The 645 of the century,and many more names of Becausewoodcutting and carpentrydid woodcutsfor this book required hundreds woodcuttersare known. No documents or not belongto theliberal arts as did gold- of finisheddrawings, such as theone dated literarysources have come downto us, smithery,the guild to whichpainters often 1490 (Fig.6). Whetherby Wolgemutor however,that might verify the identityof belonged,there may have been a consid- theyoung Diirer, whether an original or a the cutterof Diirer'sApocalypse series of erablephysical and psychological distance copyafter the original design, the drawing 1497-98.Did Diirer design, print, publish, betweenwoodcutters and painters.The has been associatedwith the Nuremberg andalso cut the fifteen large blocks for the exclusionof woodcuttersfrom the liberal Chronicle'sfrontispiece woodcut, which series himself?Because the woodcutsof artsmay explain in partwhy painters as a is decidedlyless finein designand execu- theApocalypse are extremely large and of rule did not cut theirown blocks.It is tion.'3The difference in qualitybetween unsurpassedquality, the opinion that Diirer Fig.5 Anonymous IN ?r ?.Wl Germanartist, St.

Florian,late fifteenth e century,woodcut New York,The Metropolitan MuseumofArt, Bequest ofJamesClark McGuire, 1931. p Fig.6 Michael Ij ia Wolgemut(?), Godthe FatherBlessing, 1490, pen drawingin brown MA, ink.London, British Museum.

sq, "IW".". ?, qj g xq

p OF Fig.5 Fig.6 possiblethat they considered woodcutting W ...... g0 " "V demeaning.10Yet sculptors in thefifteenth '0 k centurywere often included in thepainters' WIF.. ['Mw guild;therefore, the cuttingof woodfor ? oi woodcutsand for sculptureat thattime mustbe differentiated.'1 The designerdid not usuallycut his A. own blocks. Wolgemut,for example, MV:1-:00 headeda large workshopand was the leadingpainter in Nurembergin the late J .45 fifteenthcentury. He was also a woodcut xi RAI W. designer,but probably not a woodcutter. '4 gq wasapprenticed to Wolgemutfrom a Diirer t m 1486to 1490,when he mostlikely learned 3: k woodcut butnot ;p design cutting.Wolgemut 4%In 1A workedas theartistic head of theNurem-

Chronicle,which was printedby A, M-0, berg A AntonKoberger in 1493.Assisting in the projectwere Diirer, who was Koberger's godson,and WilhelmPleydenwurff, who OV was Wolgemut'sstepson. Koberger had begunhis printingcareer in 1470,and by P- 1491,the date of theChronicle's contract, ON 192 ArtJournal in werethe Fig. 7 worked Nuremberg, leading ...... woodcuttersof thetime. A HansLiitzelberger was the woodcutter responsiblefor forty-two of theillustrations ?sk0.0of HansHolbein the Younger'sDance of Death,which was published in bookform in 1538. Holbein'sdesigns were made in in or before the heleft for Out Basel 1526, year ME, the courtof HenryVIII and the yearin which Liitzelbergerdied.'8 Liitzelberger V"M prominentlysigned the scene representing theDuchess (Fig.8). Thisclearly marks a changein attitudetowards the woodcutter x, Al and showsrecognition of the importance of his skillin the successfulrendering of theartist's design. Thesixteenth century saw famous artists andhighly skilled craftsmen designing and systematicallysigning their woodcuts, a practicebegun by Diirerin the 1490s. Whereasthe signaturesof earlierwood- cuttersand designerswere less obvious and less common,skilled woodcutters of the sixteenthcentury such as Liitzelberger signedtheir blocks prominently and fre- Fig.7 AlbrechtDiirer, Martyrdomof St. ca. Catherine, 1497-98, 117 woodblock.New York, TheMetropolitan MuseumofArt, Fletcher Vl- Fund,1919.

AZ w Pk Fig.8 HansHolbein the 2 Younger,The Duchess, jk- Fe'.. woodcutfromthe Dance W of Death,1538. p,%,j WA probablycut the blocks himselfis not in contrast,are skillfullythough routinely uncommon.14 cut, thussuggesting the hand of a profes- Thearguments for Diirer'sauthorship sional cutter.Diirer also producedhis statethat no woodcutterof the timewas SmallPassion series about the same time technicallyproficient enough to reproduce as theBehaim Arms. Published in book Fig.8 Diirer'snew styleand that had the block formin 1511, thatseries includes thirty- quentlyand increasingly worked with un- beencut by professional woodcutters that sevenwoodcuts attributed to at leastfour questionedskill and solid identities for an particularstyle of cuttingwould have con- woodcutters.16 expandingmarket. The large painting tinued,which it did notuntil about 1511, Duringthe firsthalf of the sixteenth shops of Cranachin Saxonyand Pieter whenDiirer is knownto haveused wood- century,under Diirer's influence, woodcut Coeckin Antwerp, which produced numer- cutters.The other side of the argument has productionwas characterizedby experi- ous variationson a limitednumber of it thatDiirer would have required exten- mentationand by increasing skill and pro- subjects,appear to be responsesto this sive trainingas a woodcutterand would fessionalism.The association of woodcuts broadaudience. This also seems to be the not have had the time for his painting, withlearned and wealthy circles, such as casewith the Christopher Plantin printing engraving,and other woodcut projects if thoseof thehumanists and Emperor Max- house in Antwerp,which housed sixteen he had cut the blockshimself.'5 William imilian,was also not unusual. Experimen- printing presses that produced 1,500 to Ivins added new fuel to the pro-Diirer tationwith chiaroscurowoodcut began 2,000titles at the height of Plantin'scareer argumentwhen he observeddifferences in about 1507 when LucasCranach's St. aboutmidcentury.19 Woodcuts also were the cuttingof Diirer'sblocks made at the Georgeand Hans Burgkmair's St. George designedby the greatestGerman painters timeof theApocalypse and of thosemade andMaximilian, which were influenced of the time andwere producedin large duringthe years when Diirer is knownto by the Cranachwoodcut, were printed quantities. haveemployed professional woodcutters. from separate tone blocks on hand-colored Thebeginning of a modern,competitive In earlyworks such as theMartyrdom of papers."Burgkmair's St. Georgewas cut art market,in whichartists respond to St. Catherineof 1497-98(Fig. 7), Ivins at least in partby his fellowAugsberger popular taste, appears therefore to have accountsfor the liveliness of theprints by Jost de Negker,whose namehas been arisenin theearly sixteenth century. That pointingto the blocks and the varying associatedwith the inventionof the chia- populartaste was taken into consideration heightof the reliefof the woodcutting.roscuro woodcut.Further research is by artistsof the timeis suggestedby the Diirer'smore mature works, such as the needed,however, before this can be con- manywoodcuts designed by anonymous BehaimArms of about1510-11 (Fig.4), firmed.Negker and Jost Andreae,who Nurembergartists from about 1525 to Spring 1980 193 1550,as well as bythe presence of popular Do these pricessuggest that a woodcut relationsin booksellingand printing. subjects,such as peasantsand lansquenets, cost the equivalent of onlya fewdollars? If AdrianWilson, The Making of the Nurem- in printsby Sebald Beham and other Little earlyprinted books averaged editions of bergChronicle, Amsterdam, 1976, 175-76. Masters.Woodcuts grew less importantin 200 to 1,000,23it is possiblethat wood- 13 bid.,200, 193, 195, 78. thesecond quarter of thecentury as south cutswere produced in editionsof similar 14See Charles W. Talbot, ed., Albrecht Diirer Germancities, such as Nuremberg,de- size. GiintherZainer's printing firm in in America:His Graphic Work, notes by clinedin importanceand wealth. Printers Augsburgproduced 36,000 books during GaillardF. Raveneland Jay A. Levenson, movedto the richernorth German cities thelate fifteenth century when the popula- exh.cat., Washington, D.C., National Gal- aboutmidcentury, after which woodcuts tionof Augsburgwas about half that num- leryof Art, 1971, 165. wereessentially replaced by engravings. ber and when Nuremberg'spopulation 15Max J. Friedliinder,Der Holzschnitt, ed. Woodcut-was the cheapestart form totalledabout 20,000. These figures imply HansM-hle, 4th ed., Berlin,1970, 56; availableduring the fifteenth and sixteenth thatprinters of books,and by extension WilliamM. Ivins,Jr., "Noteson Three centuries.This was due in partto theease woodcutters,geared their production to a DiirerWoodblocks," Metropolitan Mu- of its production--inkingand printing wide-spreadaudience, one thatextended seum Studies,ii, 1929, 109; Eduard requiringonly hand pressure and no press. far beyondthe home town.24That was Flechsig,AlbrechtDiirer, sein Leben und The audiencefor woodcutswas broad certainlythe case with Diirer, whose prints seinekinstlerische Entwicklung, i, Berlin, relativeto thatof otherart forms. Because are believedto havebeen distributedall 1928,115. woodcutswere inexpensive, they reached over Europe.In additionto beingwide- 16Ivins, "Three Diirer Woodblocks," 109. anaudience somewhat lower on thesocial spread,the audiencefor woodcutsmust 17Correspondence between the Augsberger scalethan that patronizing panel paintings, have been large and diverseto include KonradPeutinger, who had recieved im- manuscripts,or evenengravings. Woodcuts buyersattracted to theelegance of Diirer pressionsofthe Cranach print, and Elector decoratedthe walls of whatappear to be and Holbeinand also to the simplicityof Frederickthe Wise of Saxony confirms the middle-classhomes, such as theone with popularsatirical and folk subjects.The influenceof Cranach's woodcut on Burgk- theSt. Christopherseen in thecopy of the prices of woodcutssurely reflected the mair.Dieter Koepplin and Tilman Falk, centerpanel of theMerode Alterpiece in popularity,quality, subject, and artistof LucasCranach: Gemdilde, Zeichnungen, Brussels.20As the quality of woodcutprint- thework. Druckgraphik,i, Basel,1974, 63. ingimproved during the second quarter of So manyquestions about the price, 18The Dance ofDeath by Hans Holbein the the fifteenthcentury, resulting in more market,and audienceof earlywoodcuts Younger,intro. by Werner Gundersheimer, refined and better-printedimages, the remainunanswered, as do questionsabout NewYork, 1971, x. woodcutaudience probably expanded to the locationof the earlywoodcut work- 19Sandra Hindman and JamesDouglas includethe morediscriminating. Earlier, shopsand the divisionof laborand pro- Farquhar,Pen to Press: Illustrated Man- the simple characterof woodcutspre- ceduresemployed. This is in partowing to uscriptsand PrintedBooks in theFirst cludedtheir appealing to thewealthy. the lingeringmedieval spirit of the time, Centuryof Printing,exh. cat.,College It wouldbe interestingto learnmore whichfostered a communalrather than an Park,University of Maryland, and Balti- aboutfluctuations in theprice of woodcuts individualisticethos. The numerous ques- more,Johns Hopkins University, 1977, 195. duringthe course of the fifteenthand tionsraised in thisarticle, it is hoped,will 20 SeeLome Campbell, "Robert Campin, the sixteenthcenturies. Was there a significant stimulatenew researchand investigation Masterof Flemalleand the Masterof differencein price,and therefore audience, thatmight help to clarifythe pictureof Merode,"Burlington Magazine, cxvi, betweenthe early cuts, those ofDiirer, and earlywoodcut workshops. End 1974,640, fig.12. those made duringthe firsthalf of the 21Talbot, Diirer in America,15; Alison G. sixteenthcentury? Diirer's woodcuts seem Notes Stewart,Unequal Lovers: AStudy of Un- to havesold for no morethan one-half to 1 SeeArthur M. Hind, An Introduction to equalCouples in NorthernArt, New York, one-quarterof the priceof engravings.21 a Hitoryof Woodcut:With a Detailed 1979,119. Wasthat also the case with other woodcuts Surveyof WorkDone in theFifteenth 22 Forprices see FlorenceEdler de Roover, producedduring the fifteenth and sixteenth Century,i, New York, 1963, 107, 108, 90. "NewFacets on theFinancing and Mar- centuries?Were Diirer's Apocalypse wood- 2 Formethods of printingin the fifteenth ketingof EarlyPrinted Books," Bulletin cutsmore expensive than the anonymous century,Die Friihzeitdes Holzschnitts, of theBusiness Historical Review, xxvii, contemporaneouswoodcuts and were they intro.Dieter Kuhrmann, exh. cat., Munich, 1953,222; for manuscript production time more expensivethan his laterwoodcuts, StaatlicheGraphische Sammlung, 1970, xi. see ElizabethL. Eisenstein,"Some Con- whichwe knowwere cut by professional 3 Hind,Hitory of Woodcut,i, 91. jecturesabout the Impact of Printingon cutters?How would any Diirer woodcut 4 HansHuth, Kiinstler und Werkstattder WesternSociety and Thought: A Prelimi comparein pricewith Holbein's fine book Spitgotik,Darmstadt, 1967, 28. naryReport,"Journal ofModern History, illustrationscut by Liitzelberger,or with 5 Foran Englishtranslation of the letter, XL, 1968,2. therougher, popular subjects produced in WilliamMartin Conway, The Literary 23 Eisenstein,"Impact of Printing,"2; see Nurembergin the secondquarter of the Remainsof AlbrechtDiirer, Cambridge, alsoEisenstein's The Printing Press as an sixteenthcentury? 1889,75. Agentof Change:Communications and Anotherarea worthy of furtherinvesti- 6 WilhelmLudwig Schreiber, Handbuch der CulturalTransformations in Early Mod- gationis the methodof payment-lump Holz-und Metallichnittedes XV Jahr- ernEurope, 2 vols.,New York and Cam- sumor installments?-forcommissioned hunderts,vi, Leipzig, 1928, 93-114. bridge,1979, which the authorlearned printssuch as Diirer'sCoat ofArms ofthe 7 Hind,History of Woodcut,i, 388, 389. about(gratefully from Keith Moxey) too Books in 8 ,378; seealso Fritz The lateto includehere. BehaimFamily (Fig.4). printed Ibid.,, Eichenberg, Italyin the 1470s cost the equivalentof Artof thePrint: Masterpieces, History, 24 Eisenstein,"Impact of Printing,"7, n. 15; $30 to $80. Suchprices obviously limited Technique,New York, 1976, 78. Stewart,Unequaled Lovers, 102. books to an audienceof means,even 9 Huth,Kiinstler und Werkstatt,10, 11. thoughthese prices were certainlyfar 10Hind, History of Woodcut,i, 90. I wouldlike to thankKeith Moxey, Carol belowthose of manuscripts,which took 11Huth, Kiinstler und Werkstatt,82, 8. Schuler,and above all AlanShestack for nearlysix monthsto produceby hand.22 12Koberger also had internationalbusiness theirhelpful criticisms. 194 ArtJournal