On view
The 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
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Adam vom Bartsch, "Volume 7," Le peintre graveur ... (Vienne: J. V. Degen, 1803-05).
, no. 136, p. 147 - Arthur Mayger Hind, Albrecht Dürer: his engravings and woodcuts (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1911)., p. 14
- Joseph Meder, Dürer-Katalog, ein handbuch über Albrecht Dürers stiche, radierungen, Holzschnitte, deren zustände, ausgaben und wasserzeichen (Vienna: Gilhofer & Rauschburg, 1932)., no. 2, p. 273
- Erwin Panofsky, Albrecht Dürer (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1945).
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F.W.H. Hollstein, “Dürer,” German engravings, etchings, and woodcuts, ca. 1400-1700 (Amsterdam: M. Hertzberger, 1962).
, no. 273 - An exhibition of prints honoring the quincentenary of Albrecht Durer's birth (New York: Kennedy Galleries, 1971)., no. 12
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"Acquisitions 1972", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 32, no. 1 (1973): p. 20-30.
, p. 21 - Matthew Lalumia, Deb Petty, and Suzanne Tripp, Images of Mary (Princeton: Princeton University Art Museum, 1975)., no. 58, pp. 120–121
- Albert Garrett, A history of British wood engraving (Tunbridge Wells: Midas Books, 1978).
- Allen Rosenbaum and Francis F. Jones, Selections from The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1986), p. 79 (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)., p. 236 (illus.)
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Rainer Schoch, Matthias Mende, and Anna Scherbaum, Albrecht Dürer: das druckgraphische Werk (München: Prestel, 2001).
, no. 2, p. 241
