DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28460#0179
154 Early German ancl Flemish Woodcuts.—Part I.
burin some of the main features of the composition, such as the im-
portant folds of the drapery, the edges of buildings and the like (see
Schreiber 2430, note). There is, too, almost rnvariably a white line
drawn all round the print just witliin its outer limits, by way of
border. Otherwise, consecutive white lines of any length scarcely
occur. The next process would be to cut or “ gnaw ” away with the
knife all those portions of the surface which were to appear as
unbroken white. Where it was necessary to modify this white sur-
face and draw upon the high lights, as, for instance, in drawing clouds
upon a clear sky, black lines would be left standing upon the white,
just as in a woodcut, only the engraver took much less trouble to
make them neat, for he was bent on designing in white, and black
lines only came in by the way, when they could not be avoided.
The presence of irregular and untidy looking spots and strokes of
black is also accounted for by the difficulty of clearing out the back-
ground of a metal plate in a neat and finished way. bText he pro-
ceeded to break up his remaining black surfaces, and it was here that
his peculiar craft was exercised in all its variety. He had to imitate
all kinds of textures—water, earth, stone, grass, trees, drapery and
flesli'. He did this by using a number of tools, as eacli seemed most
suitable, not following any fixed rule. Much was done with the
knife. The larger spaces of black were broken up with punches pro-
ducing the familiar round dots, eitlier of one size or of graduated
sizes, sometimes artfully grouped to produce the effect of colour and
modelling. Wherever more definite ornament was permissible, a
stamp could be used, whicli punched out a ring or a star, a square,
a diamond or a fleur-de-lys. Tliis was done chiefly on the drapery or
on small spaces which recjuired special decoration, such as the nimbus
of a saint or tlre capital of a pillar. Flowers were often produced by
a combination of rings with dots grouped symmetrically round them,
or else, in the case of the conventional flowers of a curtain often used
as a background, by the fourfold use round a central dot or ring of a
peculiar stamp with curved back and three deep indentations in t-he
face, wliich represents a petal. Last of all lre lightened still further
tliose surfaces, chiefly of drapery, which were to be nearer white than
black, by covering tliem with an elaborate and delicate net-work of
white lines, engraved with the burin, crossing each other at various
angles, and going right across tlie ornaments previously produced
by the stamps described above, so as to obliterate them almost
entirely in rnanv cases. Sometliing like this crossing of white lines
may occasionally be observed in early woodcuts, but a careful exami-
nation sliows tliat the apparent white liues were only produc.ed
burin some of the main features of the composition, such as the im-
portant folds of the drapery, the edges of buildings and the like (see
Schreiber 2430, note). There is, too, almost rnvariably a white line
drawn all round the print just witliin its outer limits, by way of
border. Otherwise, consecutive white lines of any length scarcely
occur. The next process would be to cut or “ gnaw ” away with the
knife all those portions of the surface which were to appear as
unbroken white. Where it was necessary to modify this white sur-
face and draw upon the high lights, as, for instance, in drawing clouds
upon a clear sky, black lines would be left standing upon the white,
just as in a woodcut, only the engraver took much less trouble to
make them neat, for he was bent on designing in white, and black
lines only came in by the way, when they could not be avoided.
The presence of irregular and untidy looking spots and strokes of
black is also accounted for by the difficulty of clearing out the back-
ground of a metal plate in a neat and finished way. bText he pro-
ceeded to break up his remaining black surfaces, and it was here that
his peculiar craft was exercised in all its variety. He had to imitate
all kinds of textures—water, earth, stone, grass, trees, drapery and
flesli'. He did this by using a number of tools, as eacli seemed most
suitable, not following any fixed rule. Much was done with the
knife. The larger spaces of black were broken up with punches pro-
ducing the familiar round dots, eitlier of one size or of graduated
sizes, sometimes artfully grouped to produce the effect of colour and
modelling. Wherever more definite ornament was permissible, a
stamp could be used, whicli punched out a ring or a star, a square,
a diamond or a fleur-de-lys. Tliis was done chiefly on the drapery or
on small spaces which recjuired special decoration, such as the nimbus
of a saint or tlre capital of a pillar. Flowers were often produced by
a combination of rings with dots grouped symmetrically round them,
or else, in the case of the conventional flowers of a curtain often used
as a background, by the fourfold use round a central dot or ring of a
peculiar stamp with curved back and three deep indentations in t-he
face, wliich represents a petal. Last of all lre lightened still further
tliose surfaces, chiefly of drapery, which were to be nearer white than
black, by covering tliem with an elaborate and delicate net-work of
white lines, engraved with the burin, crossing each other at various
angles, and going right across tlie ornaments previously produced
by the stamps described above, so as to obliterate them almost
entirely in rnanv cases. Sometliing like this crossing of white lines
may occasionally be observed in early woodcuts, but a careful exami-
nation sliows tliat the apparent white liues were only produc.ed