On view
Holy Family with Three Hares,
ca. 1497–98
It is a humbling delight to be in the presence of a Dürer print and a rare privilege to see the original block from which it was printed. This relic provides a window into Dürer’s process. The depth and texture of marks left behind by carving tools bring the maker’s labor to life. During the fifteenth century, woodcut was valued less for its expressive effects than as a means of reproducing drawings to make them widely available. For this woodcut, Dürer drew an image onto a woodblock. Then he, or a professional block cutter, used a knife to carve away the wood around the drawn lines. Printers then applied ink to the raised surface of the block and placed paper onto it, using a press to apply even pressure. Pulling the paper from the woodblock revealed a printed mirror image of the original drawing. This process was repeated to make numerous impressions.
Rebecca Gilbert, Printmaker
Information
ca. 1497–98
Europe, Germany, Nuremburg
- Robert Koch, "A Woodblock by Dürer" Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University XVII, no. 2 (1968): 63-65., p. 63; p. 64 (illus.); p. 65 (illus.)
- Alfreda J. Murck, "Acquisitions 1967," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 27, no. 1 (1968): p. 35-41., p. 41
- "Catalogue of the Exhibition" and "Plates," Record of the Art Musuem 30, no. 2 (1971): 29-60, p. 33, no. 47, p. 59 (illus.)
- Colin Eisler, Dürer's Animals (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 19910., p. 109, fig. 4.32, p. 111 (illus.)
- Michael Olmert, Smithsonian Book of Books (Washington: Smithsonian Books, 1992)., pp. 34–35
