Dodgson, Campbell: Catalogue of early German and Flemish woodcuts: preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum (Band 1): [German and Flemish woodcuts of the XV century] (London, 1903)

76

Early German and Flemish Woodcuts.—Part I.

sleeve is lined with ermine. Her long hair falls over hoth shoulders,
Her nimbus is very large and the disk is surrounded by a broad belt of
stars. A sword pierces her r. breast. Between the thumb and finger of
her r. hand she holds a scroll with the words : 2Ttt ♦ ♦ alpfjtl ♦ ft ♦ 0

Her 1. arm supports the infant Christ in a sitting posture. He has a
cruciform nimbus with double rim. He holds in both hands a Latin cross,
which passes over his 1. shoulder. The crown of thorns hangs on the
cross, and the three nails are in position. A scroll with ♦ T ♦ U ♦ f ♦ t ♦ is
attached to the upper hmb of the cross. In the r. upper corner of the
print is a wide scroll with an inscription in seven lines, of which the r.
side is very indistinctly printed. The text, so far as it can be deciphered,
is as follows (Luke ii, 34) :•—-

iEccr polttts c Ijtc m ruta? | ct tn rcxurcstocm.(multorj |

Imljcrtmalc ct m.(stgitttm) | tto cotraUtcct’ ct tua tpsttts |

atmatn ptransstutt glaUttts | ct rcttcllcnt’ tx multm | corSttms
cogttanoncs.

The folds of the drapery are sharp and hooked. Hatching is used on
the lining of the Virgin’s mantle, but not elsewhere. The border is single,

[380 X 260.] Badly printed, but well preserved, except in tke 1. lower corner,
wliere a portion kas been torn away. Colours; dull crimson (faded), cinnabar, dull
yellow, green, grey, black, No margin or watermark.

Purckased at tke Weigel sale, 1872.

Two otker impressions of tkis cut are known, in tke libraries at Brunswick and
Wolfenbiittel. Tke former was taken from tke cover of a book of 1472. Tkis
impression was purckased at tke Weigel sale, 1S72. Bepr. (muck reduced) in Willsk.
pl. vii.

Tke cut is a reversed copy of Sckr. 1028, a cut in tlie collection of Baron Edmond
de Botlisckild at Paris, formerly in tke Weigel collection (W. u. Z. no. 51, witk repr.)
As compared witk tke original, tke ckief points of divergence are tke following:—

1. Tlie tke wliole composition is reversed; in tke original tke Virgin faces 1., holds-
tke Ckild on ker r. arm, and tke sword pierces ker 1. breast.

2. The Virgin’s liair is straigkt, not curly.

3. Tke kem of tke Virgin’s mantle is of striped stufif, not embroidered witli gems.

4. Hatcking is used for tke lining of tke mantle, but not for tke inner robe; tke
case is precisely contrary in tke original.

5. Tkere are no rays issuing downwards from tke clouds.

6. Tke nimbus of Clirist is cruciform but not floriated.

7. Tke cross wliick ke liolds is studded witk five nails, wkick are not in tke
original, at tke juncture of stem and transverse beam.

8. The inscription is incorrectly spelt, and tke lines are difl'erentlv divided.

Botk cuts were formerly described as metal-cuts, for wkicli tkere was no good
reason. Sckr. 1028, to judge by tke reproduction, lias several of tke flaws in tke
border wkicli are a distinctive sign of a wood-block, and Sckr. 1029 has tke appearance
of a woodcut printed from a badly-inked block.

A 54.

THE VIBGHN AND CHILD, SEATED.

Sckr. 1058.

The Virgin, facing slightly 1. sits on a cushion with tassels, placed on
the chequered floor of a room. She holds the naked child on her lap,
with his head against her r. shoulder. She has a large nimbus with plain
disk and double rim. That of the child has cruciform rays and a single
rim. The Virgin wears a white veil edged with lace and a mantle which