DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28460#0189
164 Early German and Flemish Woodcuts.—Part I.
The metal-
cuts of the
French livres
d’heures: why
distinct from
the dotted
prints
“ Copilacion de Leyes,” fol. Huete, 23 Aug., 1485, printer unknown
(Proctor 9603), lias two title-borders, one to the preface, and one
which is repeated at the commencement of each book, which are in
the mani'ere criblee. So are the nine initial letters P and ELISABET
(an acrostic on the name of Queen Isabella). In addition to the
characteristic dots and hatchings in white line, they have two
ornamental stamps, a ring (very largely usecl in the first border, where
the costumes of the huntsmen are entirely covered with it) and a
five-petalled flower (if this be not, rather, merely a group of five
dots). Tliey have also the frilled clouds characteristic of this style.
Willshire1 refers to Spanish books printed at Barcelona in 1516 and
at Valencia in 1520, which are illustrated with “dotted ” prints.
The beautiful metal-cuts found in the French livres d’heures and
liturgical works, which were in use before 1490, but reached their
perfection in the decade between 1495 and 1505, are sometimes
described as specimens of tlie mani'ere criblee, or as a modification of
that process. They sliould be treated, in my opinion, as essentially
distinct from it. Whether they adopt late Gothic or early Renaissance
motives, or a combination of the two, these cuts are always tasteful
in design and accomplislied in execution. The craftsmen who pro-
duced them were of a very different order from tlie ignorant Teutonic
workers in metal, who invented such a strange and abortive innovation
in the art of engraving as the mani'ere criblee. The one thing common
to both styles is the use of white dots on a black ground. But even
this resemblance is illusory, when attention is paid to the purpose for
which the dots are employed. In the mani'ere criblee the dots might
be applied to any part whatsoever of the design which was not
actually white. In some early specimens, as we have seen, they were
used even on the human face and hands. At all times they were
applied indiscriminately to drapery, surfaces of wood or stone, the
•earth, the fields—wherever, in short, a dark surface was to be broken
up. Now in the Erench nretal-cuts the dots are never used in any
portion of the design itself, but only in the background, especially in
two places : first, the sky as seen through doors or windows, or
treated, as it often is, as a mass of black, broken by these white dots,
against whicli the whole subject stands out in relief; secondly, the
dark ground of panels or pilasters, upon whicli an arabesque design
in white is shown up. Even here the dots seldom have tlie mechanical
regularity wliich is produced when all are punched out by the same
tool; they are very often specks of irregular shape picked out with
1 “ Introduction to Ancient Prints,” ii, 68.
The metal-
cuts of the
French livres
d’heures: why
distinct from
the dotted
prints
“ Copilacion de Leyes,” fol. Huete, 23 Aug., 1485, printer unknown
(Proctor 9603), lias two title-borders, one to the preface, and one
which is repeated at the commencement of each book, which are in
the mani'ere criblee. So are the nine initial letters P and ELISABET
(an acrostic on the name of Queen Isabella). In addition to the
characteristic dots and hatchings in white line, they have two
ornamental stamps, a ring (very largely usecl in the first border, where
the costumes of the huntsmen are entirely covered with it) and a
five-petalled flower (if this be not, rather, merely a group of five
dots). Tliey have also the frilled clouds characteristic of this style.
Willshire1 refers to Spanish books printed at Barcelona in 1516 and
at Valencia in 1520, which are illustrated with “dotted ” prints.
The beautiful metal-cuts found in the French livres d’heures and
liturgical works, which were in use before 1490, but reached their
perfection in the decade between 1495 and 1505, are sometimes
described as specimens of tlie mani'ere criblee, or as a modification of
that process. They sliould be treated, in my opinion, as essentially
distinct from it. Whether they adopt late Gothic or early Renaissance
motives, or a combination of the two, these cuts are always tasteful
in design and accomplislied in execution. The craftsmen who pro-
duced them were of a very different order from tlie ignorant Teutonic
workers in metal, who invented such a strange and abortive innovation
in the art of engraving as the mani'ere criblee. The one thing common
to both styles is the use of white dots on a black ground. But even
this resemblance is illusory, when attention is paid to the purpose for
which the dots are employed. In the mani'ere criblee the dots might
be applied to any part whatsoever of the design which was not
actually white. In some early specimens, as we have seen, they were
used even on the human face and hands. At all times they were
applied indiscriminately to drapery, surfaces of wood or stone, the
•earth, the fields—wherever, in short, a dark surface was to be broken
up. Now in the Erench nretal-cuts the dots are never used in any
portion of the design itself, but only in the background, especially in
two places : first, the sky as seen through doors or windows, or
treated, as it often is, as a mass of black, broken by these white dots,
against whicli the whole subject stands out in relief; secondly, the
dark ground of panels or pilasters, upon whicli an arabesque design
in white is shown up. Even here the dots seldom have tlie mechanical
regularity wliich is produced when all are punched out by the same
tool; they are very often specks of irregular shape picked out with
1 “ Introduction to Ancient Prints,” ii, 68.