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Early Woodcut Workshops University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 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] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/artfacpub Part of the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons 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
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