The term Old Master Print is used to describe works of art produced by a printing process within the Western tradition (European or New World). A date of about 1830 is usually taken as marking the end of the period whose prints are covered by this term. The article on printmaking describes the techniques used in making old master prints, although from a modern perspective. The main techniques concerned are woodcut, engraving and etching, although there are others. With rare exceptions, old master prints are printed on paper. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Printmaking is a process for producing editions (mutliple copies) of artwork; painting, on the other hand, is a process for producing a single original piece of artwork. ... Four horsemen of the Apocalypse by Albrecht Dürer. ... Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. ... Etching is an intaglio method of printmaking in which the image is incised into the surface of a metal plate using an acid. ...

This article is more concerned with the artistic, historical and social aspects of the subject. Many of the greatest artists, such as Dürer, Rembrandt, and Goya were dedicated printmakers. In their own day, their international reputations largely came from their prints, which were spread far more widely than their paintings. Today, thanks to colour photo reproductions, and public galleries, their paintings are much better known, whilst their prints are only rarely exhibited, for conservation reasons. Self-Portrait, 1493, Oil on Canvas Albrecht Dürer (May 21, 1471 - April 6, 1528) was a German painter, wood carver, engraver, and mathematician. ... This article is about the Dutch artist. ... This article is about Francisco Goya, a Spanish painter. ...

Antonio Pollaiuolo, Battle of the Nude Men

History

Woodcut before Albrecht Dürer

The oldest technique is woodcut, or woodblock printing, which was invented in Egypt in the Byzantine period (about 600 CE), and had spread to, or was invented separately in, China before 1000AD. This had reached Europe via the Byzantine or Islamic worlds by 1300, as a method of printing patterns on fabric. Paper arrived in Europe, also from China via Islamic Spain, slightly later, and was being manufactured in Italy and Germany by the end of the century. Religious images and playing-cards are documented as being produced on paper, probably printed, by a German in Bologna in 1395. ^[1] But the most impressive printed European images to survive from before 1400 are printed on cloth, for use as hangings on walls or furniture, including altars and lecterns. Some were used as a pattern to embroider over. Some religious images were used as bandages, to speed healing. ^[2] The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... Islam (Arabic: ; ( ▶ (help· info)), the submission to God) is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions and the worlds second-largest religion. ... Piece of A4 paper Paper is a thin material produced by the amalgamation of plant fibres, which are subsequently held together without extra binder, largely by hydrogen bonds and to a large degree by fiber entanglement. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A late 18th century pulpit in a small Roman Catholic church in Spielfeld, Styria, Austria A pulpit (from Latin pulpitum scaffold, platform, stage) is a small elevated platform where a member of the clergy stands in order to read the Gospel lesson and deliver a sermon. ...

The earliest print images are mostly of a high artistic standard, and were clearly designed by artists with a background in painting (on walls, panels or manuscripts). Whether these artists cut the blocks themselves, or only inked the design on the block for another to carve, is not known. During the fifteenth century the number of prints produced grew hugely as paper became freely available and cheaper, and the average artistic level fell, so that by the second half of the century the typical woodcut is a relatively crude image. The great majority of surviving 15th century prints are religious, although these were probably the ones more likely to survive. Their makers were sometimes called "Jesus maker" or "saint-maker" in documents. ^[3]As with manuscript books, monastic institutions sometimes produced, and often sold, prints. No artists can be identified with specific woodcuts until towards the end of the century.

The little evidence we have suggests that woodcut prints became relatively common and cheap during the fifteenth century, and were affordable by skilled workers in towns. For example, what may be the earliest surviving Italian print, the "Madonna of the Fire", was hanging by a nail to a wall in a small school in Forli in 1428. The school caught fire, and the crowd who gathered to watch saw the print carried up into the air by the fire, before falling down into the crowd. This was regarded as a miraculous escape and the print was carried to Forli Cathedral, where it remains, since 1636 in a special chapel, displayed once a year. Like the majority of prints before approximately 1470, only a single impression (the term used for a copy of an old master print; "copy" is used for a print copying another print) of this print has survived. Forlì (44°13′ N 12°02′ E)is a city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. ...

Woodcut blocks are printed with light pressure, and are capable of printing several thousand impressions, and even at this period some prints may well have been produced in that quantity. Many prints were hand-coloured, mostly in watercolour. Italy, Germany, France and the Netherlands were the main areas of production - England does not seem to have produced any prints until about 1480. But prints are highly portable, and were transported across Europe. A Venetian document of 1441 already complains about cheap imports of playing-cards damaging the local industry. Watercolor is a painting technique making use of water-soluble pigments that are either transparent or opaque and are formulated with gum to bond the pigment to the paper. ...

Block-books were a very popular form of (short) book, where a page with both pictures and text was cut as a single woodcut. They were much cheaper than manuscript books, and were mostly produced in the Netherlands; the Art of Dying (Ars moriendi) was the most famous. As a relief technique (see printmaking) woodcut can be printed easily together with movable type, and after this invention arrived in Europe about 1450 printers quickly came to include woodcuts in their books. Some book-owners also pasted prints into prayer-books in particular. Playing cards were another notable use of prints, and French versions are the basis of the traditional sets still in use today. Pride of the spirit is one of the five temptations of the dying man, according to Ars moriendi. ... Printmaking is a process for producing editions (mutliple copies) of artwork; painting, on the other hand, is a process for producing a single original piece of artwork. ... Some typical Anglo-American playing cards from the Bicycle brand Set of 52 playing cards A playing card is a typically hand-sized piece of heavy paper or thin plastic. ...

German Engraving before Durer

Engraving on metal was part of the goldsmith's craft throughout the Medieval period, and the idea of printing engraved designs onto paper probably began as a method for them to record the designs on pieces they had sold. Some artists trained as painters became involved from about 1450-60, although many engravers continued to come from a goldsmithing background. From the start, engraving was in the hands of the luxury tradesmen, unlike woodcut, where at least the cutting of the block was associated with the lower-status trades of carpentry, and perhaps sculptural wood-carving. Engravings were also important from very early on as models for other artists, especially painters and sculptors, and many works survive, especially from smaller cities, which take their compositions directly from prints. Serving as a pattern for artists may have been a primary purpose for the creation of many prints, especially the numerous series of apostle figures. A goldsmith creating a new ring A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with precious metals, usually to make jewelry. ... The Twelve Apostles (in Koine Greek απόστολος apostolos [1], someone sent forth/sent out, an emissary) were probably Galilean Jewish men (10 names are Aramaic, 4 names are Greek) chosen from among the disciples, who were sent forth by Jesus of Nazareth to preach the Gospel to both Jews and Gentiles...

The surviving engravings, though the majority are religious, show a greater proportion of secular images than other types of art from the period, including woodcut. This is certainly partly the result of the relative survival rates - although wealthy fifteenth century houses certainly contained secular images on walls (inside and outside), and cloth hangings, these types of image have survived in tiny numbers. The Church was much better at retaining its images. Engravings were relatively expensive and sold to an urban middle-class that was become increasingly affluent in the belt of cities that stretched from the Netherlands down the Rhine to Southern Germany, Switzerland and Northern Italy. Engraving was also used for the same types of images as woodcuts, notably devotional images and playing cards, but many seem to have been collected for keeping out of sight in an album or book, to judge by the excellent state of preservation of many pieces of paper over 500 years old. Four horsemen of the Apocalypse by Albrecht Dürer. ... Four horsemen of the Apocalypse by Albrecht Dürer. ... Some typical modern playing cards. ...

Master ES, Lovers on a bank

Again unlike woodcut, identifiable artists are found from the start. The German, or possibly German-Swiss, Master of the Playing Cards was active by at least the 1440's. The Master ES (strictly E.S.) was a prolific engraver, from a goldsmithing background, active from about 1450-1467, and the first to sign his prints with a monogram in the plate. He made significant technical developments, which allowed more impressions to be taken from each plate. Many of his faces have a rather pudding-like appearance, which reduces the impact of what are otherwise fine works. Much of his work still has great charm, and the secular and comic subjects he engraved are almost never found in the surviving painting of the period. Like the Otto prints in Italy, much of his work was probably intended to appeal to women. A goldsmith creating a new ring A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with precious metals, usually to make jewelry. ...

The first major artist to engrave was Martin Schongauer (c1450-1491), who worked in Southern Germany, and was also a well-known painter. His father and brother were goldsmiths, so he may well have had experience with the burin from an early age. His 116 engravings have a clear authority and beauty, and became well known in Italy as well as Northern Europe, as well as much copied by other engravers. He also further developed engraving technique, in particular refining cross-hatching to depict volume and shade in a purely linear medium. c. ... Albrecht Dürer, Veronica, 1513. ...

The other notable artist of this period is known as the Housebook Master. He was a highly-talented German artist who is also known from drawings, especially the Housebook album from which he takes his name. His prints were made exclusively in drypoint, scratching his lines on the plate to leave a much shallower line than an engraver's burin would produce; he may have invented this technique. Consequently only a few impressions could be produced from each plate - perhaps about 20 - although some plates were reworked to prolong their life. Despite this limitation, his prints were clearly widely circulated, as many copies of them exist by other printmakers. This is highly typical of admired prints in all media until at least 1520; there was no enforceable concept of anything like copyright. Many of the Housebook Master's print compositions are only known from copies, as none of the presumed originals have survived - a very high proportion of his original prints are only known from a single impression. The largest collection of his prints is at Amsterdam; these were probably kept as a collection, perhaps by the artist himself, from around the time of their creation. Drypoint is a printmaking technique of the intaglio family, in which an image is incised into a plate (typically copper, zinc, or plexiglas) by scratching the surface with a hard, sharp metal point. ... In lithic reduction, a burin is a special type of lithic flake with a chisel-like edge which prehistoric humans may have used for engraving or for carving wood or bone. ...

The Earliest Italian Engravings

Printmaking in woodcut and engraving both appeared in Northern Italy within a few decades of their invention north of the Alps, and had similar uses and characters, though within significantly different artistic styles, and with from the start a much greater proportion of secular subjects. The earliest known Italian woodcut has been mentioned above. Engraving probably came first to Florence in the 1440's; Vasari typically claimed that his fellow-Florentine, the goldsmith and nielloist Maso Finiguerra (1426-64) invented the technique. It is now clear this is wrong, and there are now considered to be no prints as such that can be attributed to him on anything other than a speculative basis. He may never have made any printed engravings from plates, as opposed to taking impressions from work intended to be nielloed. There are a number of complex niello religious scenes that he probably executed, and may or may not have designed, which were influential for the Florentine style in engraving. Some paper impressions and sulphur casts survive from these. These are a number of paxes in the Bargello, Florence, plus one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York]] which depict scenes with large and well-organised crowds of small figures. There are also drawings in the Uffizi, Florence that may be by him. ^[4] Four horsemen of the Apocalypse by Albrecht Dürer. ... Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. ... Florences skyline Florence (Italian: ) is the capital city of the region of Tuscany, Italy. ... Giorgio Vasari (Arezzo, Tuscany July 3, 1511 - Florence, June 27, 1574) was an Italian painter and architect, mainly known for his famous biographies of Italian artists. ... „Minden Cross“ in Niello technique, appr. ... Maso Tommasoii Finiguerra (1426-1464), Florentine goldsmith, draftsman, and engraver, whose name is distinguished in the history of art and craftsmanship for reasons which are partly mythical. ... „Minden Cross“ in Niello technique, appr. ... the Bargello For the type of embroidery, please visit Bargello (needlework) The Bargello palace was built in 1255 to house first the Capitano del Populo and later, in 1261, the Podestà, the highest magistrate of the Florence City Council, Italy. ...

Florence

Where German engraving arrived into a still Gothic artistic world, Italian engraving caught the very early Renaissance, and from the start the prints are mostly larger, more open in atmosphere, and feature classical and exotic subjects. They are less densely worked, and do not use usually use cross-hatching. From about 1460-90 two styles developed in Florence, which remained the largest centre of Italian engraving. These are called (although the terms are less often used no) the "Fine Manner" and the "Broad Manner", referring to the typical thickness of the lines used. The leading artists in the Fine Manner are Baccio Baldini and the "Master of the Vienna Passion", and in the Broad Manner, Francesco Roselli and Antonio Pollaiuolo, whose only print was the Battle of the Nude Men(above),the masterpiece of Florentine C15 engraving. This uses a new zig-zag "return stroke" for modelling, which he probably invented. Besides its original meaning, of or relating to the Goths (Gothos, Getas), a Germanic tribe and thus the Gothic language and the Gothic alphabet, the word Gothic has been used to refer to distinctly different things: From a Renaissance perspective (originally Italian, gotico, with connotations of rough, barbarous), it conveyed... Apollo and Daphne by Antonio Pollaiuolo Antonio di Jacopo Pollaiuolo (c. ...

A chance survival is a collection of mostly rather crudely executed Florentine prints now in the British Museum, known as the Otto Prints after an earlier owner of most of them. This was probably the workshop's own reference set of prints, mostly round or oval, that were used to decorate the inside covers of boxes, primarily for female use. It has been suggested that boxes so decorated may have been given as gifts at weddings. ^[4] The subject matter and execution of this group suggests they were intended to appeal to middle-class female taste; lovers and cupids abound, and an allegory shows a near-naked young man tied to a stake and being beaten by several women. The centre of the museum was redeveloped in 2000 to become the Great Court, with a tessellated glass roof by Buro Happold and Foster and Partners surrounding the original Reading Room. ... An allegory (from Greek αλλος, allos, other, and αγορευειν, agoreuein, to speak in public) is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than (and in addition to) the literal. ...

Ferrara

The other notable early centre was Ferrara, from the 1460's, which probably produced both sets of the so-called "Tarrochi" cards, which are probably not playing cards, but some sort of educational tool for young Humanists, featuring Apollo and the Muses, personifications of the Seven liberal arts and the four Virtues, as well as earthly rulers. Lycian Apollo, early Imperial Roman copy of a fourth century Greek original (Louvre Museum) In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo (Ancient Greek , Apóllōn; or Ἀπέλλων, Apellōn), the ideal of the kouros, was the archer-god of medicine and healing and also a bringer of death-dealing plague; as... For other uses see Muse (disambiguation). ...

Mantegna in Mantua

Andrea Mantegna who trained in Padua, and then settled in Mantua was the most influential figure in Italian engraving of the century, although it is still debated whether he actually engraved any plates himself (a debate revived in recent years by Suzanne Boorsch. A number of engravings have long been ascribed to his school or workshop, with only seven usually given to him personally. The whole group form a coherent stylistic group and very clearly reflect his style in painting and drawing, or copy surviving works of his. They seem to date from the late 1460's onwards. The Lamentation over the Dead Christ Tempera on canvas, 68x81 cm, 1490 Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan. ... Tronco Maestro Riviera: a pedestrian walk along a section of the inland waterway or naviglio interno of Padua. ... Mantua (in Italian Mantova, in the local dialect of Emiliano-Romagnolo language Mantua) is an important city in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province with the same name. ...

See also

• Printmaking
• Woodcut
• Engraving
• Etching

Printmaking is a process for producing editions (mutliple copies) of artwork; painting, on the other hand, is a process for producing a single original piece of artwork. ... Four horsemen of the Apocalypse by Albrecht Dürer. ... Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. ... Etching is an intaglio method of printmaking in which the image is incised into the surface of a metal plate using an acid. ...

References

1. ^ Richard Field, Fifteenth Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts, National Gallery of Art, Washington,1965
2. ^ An Introduction to a History of Woodcut, Arthur M. Hind,p , Houghton Mifflin Co. 1935 (in USA), reprinted Dover Publications, 1963 ISBN: 0-486-20952-0
3. ^ The Renaissance Print, David Landau & Peter Parshall, Yale, 1996, ISBN 0300068832
4. ^ ^a b JA Levinson (ed); Early Italian Engravings from the National Gallery of Art; National Gallery of Art, 1973,LOC 7379624

^[5]

Hind woodcut ^[2] </ref"HindW"> Hind engraving ^[6]

Griffiths P&P ^[7]

^[8]

Reading

• Prints and Printmaking, Antony Griffiths, British Museum Press (in UK),2nd edn, 1996 ISBN 071412608X
• A History of Engraving and Etching, Arthur M. Hind,Houghton Mifflin Co. 1923 (in USA), reprinted Dover Publications, 1963 ISBN 0486209547
• An Introduction to a History of Woodcut, Arthur M. Hind, Houghton Mifflin Co. 1935 (in USA), reprinted Dover Publications, 1963 ISBN: 0-486-20952-0
• Master E.S., Alan Shestack, Pliladelphia Museum of Art, 1967
• Early Italian Engravings from the National Gallery of Art; JA Levinson (ed); National Gallery of Art, 1973,LOC 7379624
• The Renaissance Print, David Landau & Peter Parshall, Yale, 1996, ISBN 0300068832

External Links

• The Printed Image in the West: History and Techniques from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; Timeline of Art
• Large list of links to museum etc online images of old master prints,,,,