A Treatise on Wood Engraving, Historical and PracticalChatto, William Andrew
History
A Treatise on Wood Engraving, Historical and Practical
Chatto, William Andrew
Wood-engraving
Among the more remarkable single subjects engraved on wood from Durer’s
designs, the following are most frequently referred to: God the Father
bearing up into heaven the dead body of Christ, with the date 1511;
a Rhinoceros, with the date 1515; a portrait of Ulrich Varnbuler, with
the date 1522; a large head of Christ crowned with thorns, without date;
and the Siege of a fortified town, with the date 1527. In the first of
the above-named cuts, God the Father wears a kind of tiara like that of
the Pope, and above the principal figure the Holy Ghost is seen hovering
in the form of a dove. On each side of the Deity and the dead Christ are
angels holding the cross, the pillar to which Christ was bound when he
was scourged, the crown of thorns, the sponge dipped in vinegar, and
other emblems of the Passion. At the foot are heads with puffed-out
cheeks intended to represent the winds. This cut is engraved in a
clearer and more delicate style than most of the other subjects designed
by Durer on wood. There are impressions of the Rhinoceros, and the
portrait of Varnbuler, printed in chiaro-scuro from three blocks; and
there are also other wood-cuts designed by Durer executed in the same
manner. The large head of Christ, which is engraved in a coarse though
spirited and effective manner, is placed by Bartsch among the doubtful
pieces ascribed to Durer; but Mr. Ottley says, “I am unwilling to deny
to Durer the credit of this admirable and boldly executed
production.”[V-29] The cut representing the siege of a fortified town is
twenty-eight inches and three-eighths wide, by eight inches and seven
eighths high. It has been engraved on two blocks, and afterwards pasted
together. A number of small figures are introduced, and a great extent
of country is shown in this cut, which is, however, deficient in effect;
and the little figures, though drawn with great spirit, want relief,
which causes many of them to appear as if they were riding or walking in
the air. The most solid-like part of the subject is the sky; there is no
ground for most of the figures to stand on; and those which are in the
distance are of the same size as those which are apparently a mile or
two nearer the spectator. There is nothing remarkable in the execution,
and the design adds nothing to Durer’s reputation.
[Footnote V-29: There is a copy of this head, also engraved on
wood, of the size of the original, but without Durer’s, or any
other mark. Underneath an impression of the copy, in the Print
Room of the British Museum, there is written in a hand which
appears to be at least as old as the year 1550, “Dieser hat
[[HSB]]ehaim gerissen”--“H. S. Behaim drew this.” Hans Sebald
Behaim, a painter and designer on wood, was born at Nuremberg in
1500, and was the pupil of his uncle, also named Behaim, a painter
and engraver of that city. The younger Behaim abandoned the arts
to become a tavern-keeper at Frankfort, where he died in 1550.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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