DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28460#0211
Division B.—Dotted Prints.
183
Sclir. 2537.
f ST. ANTONY.
(Eeproduction.)
W.—B 17.
Photo-litliographic copy of the original in the collection of Baron Edmond de
Rothschild, Paris.
Another impression is in the Munich c.ibinet. Repr. Schmidt 77.
B 13 (1-9).
A SERIES OF NINE SAINTS.
(Woodcuts.)
Schr. 2541, etc.
W.—B 48 (1-9).
Ten leaves (ff. ccxcvii, ccxcviii, ccc, ccclxix, ccclxxxiii, ccccv, cccclvii, cccclxviii,
cccclxxi, cccclxxiii) from a Flemish MS. book of prayers contain the same number of
cnts, printed separately and pasted on the leaves before tlie MS. was written. Of
these nine, now to be described, are uniform in style; the last, St. Margaret
(Schr. 2699), has no connection with the rest, beyond the fact that i t was found in
the same MS. It is a true dotted print, and is described separately below. These
nine cuts are placed by Willsh. among “ modifications of the maniere criblee,” and
spoken of as “ engravings,” the context implying “on metal,” though this is not
stated. Schr. similarly describes the set as “ interrasiles,” and places them among
dotted prints, observiug merely, “ Toute cette suite est realisee au moyen du couteau
sans emploi de la maniere criblee,” i.e., without actual dots. The facts stated are so
far quite accnrate, but it is possible that the inference drawn from them is wrong, and
that the cuts were produced under the influence of the maniere cribl&e, not on metal
but on wood. It is quite likely that if Willsh. had not found them associated with
the dotted print, St. Margaret, it would not hare occurred to him that they were any-
thing but woodcuts. The chief feature which suggests a metal-cut is the method
of shading by cross hatchings in white line, which leave black squares standing in a
regular pattern, especially in St. Roch, no. (6). But on comparing this with the
analogous shading on an undoubted dotted print an important difference will appear.
There is not the regularity produced by the burin ploughing out two series of furrows
wliich cross one another at regular angles. lnstt- ad of this, it will be observed that
while lines of tolerable regularity can be perceived in one direction, the eye can
trace no simiiar lines crossing them from another side. It would seem rather that
the (black) lines produced by simple hatching in one direction on the wood-block
had afterwards been laboriouslv broken up into irregular dots by cutting out piect-s
from them with the knife. Moreorer, this methol of shading is combined with
another, never to be seen on tlie dotted prints, in which two rows of short horizontal
strokes are ranged, as it were, along an imaginary vertical line, branching off from
it alternately to 1. and r. See especially tlie drapery of St. Antonv, no. (1) and
St. Barbara, no. (8). The more ordinary hatching in single rows of straight lines,
either detached or placecl along the edge of an outline, recalls by its dull mechanical
regularity the technique of the wood-cutters of the Netherlands. Of actual design
carried out in white line there is none, except the wall in the background of
Sk Nicholas, no. (5), wliere the courses of the brickwork are drawn in white, ihe
bi'ieks tkemselves being black (elsewhere brick walls are represented by very regular
rows of short blach lines, which suggest the courses of the brickwork very effectively,
without actually outlining the bricks), and the name of St. Sebastian, no. (7), where
the letters are white on a black ground. The inscriptions elsewhere are black, as in
woodcuts, and this exception can easily be accounted for, as an attempt to copy tlie
technique of the maniere criblge on another material. The white pattern on tho fioor
in no. (5) may be explained in the same way. The black lines in tlie maniere criblee
uever have the regularity and even thickness everywhere observable in this set, whilst
liere there is nothing comparable in fineness to the burin-work which occurs in the
dotted prints. Another point of dissimilarity is the scarcity of black masses, and the
complete ahsence of the thin white lines by which the main outlines of the composition
weve generally, thougli not invariably, drawn on the metal before any details were
put in. The backgrouuds are cut away quite clean. The border of no. (3), St. Macarius,
is slightly broken away at the top, exactly in the manner found on wood-blocks. The
whole set is uniform in size [c. 53 x 42] and colouring. The paper is stained a light
buft, which contrasts with the white paper on wlnck the MS. is written. J?he colours
183
Sclir. 2537.
f ST. ANTONY.
(Eeproduction.)
W.—B 17.
Photo-litliographic copy of the original in the collection of Baron Edmond de
Rothschild, Paris.
Another impression is in the Munich c.ibinet. Repr. Schmidt 77.
B 13 (1-9).
A SERIES OF NINE SAINTS.
(Woodcuts.)
Schr. 2541, etc.
W.—B 48 (1-9).
Ten leaves (ff. ccxcvii, ccxcviii, ccc, ccclxix, ccclxxxiii, ccccv, cccclvii, cccclxviii,
cccclxxi, cccclxxiii) from a Flemish MS. book of prayers contain the same number of
cnts, printed separately and pasted on the leaves before tlie MS. was written. Of
these nine, now to be described, are uniform in style; the last, St. Margaret
(Schr. 2699), has no connection with the rest, beyond the fact that i t was found in
the same MS. It is a true dotted print, and is described separately below. These
nine cuts are placed by Willsh. among “ modifications of the maniere criblee,” and
spoken of as “ engravings,” the context implying “on metal,” though this is not
stated. Schr. similarly describes the set as “ interrasiles,” and places them among
dotted prints, observiug merely, “ Toute cette suite est realisee au moyen du couteau
sans emploi de la maniere criblee,” i.e., without actual dots. The facts stated are so
far quite accnrate, but it is possible that the inference drawn from them is wrong, and
that the cuts were produced under the influence of the maniere cribl&e, not on metal
but on wood. It is quite likely that if Willsh. had not found them associated with
the dotted print, St. Margaret, it would not hare occurred to him that they were any-
thing but woodcuts. The chief feature which suggests a metal-cut is the method
of shading by cross hatchings in white line, which leave black squares standing in a
regular pattern, especially in St. Roch, no. (6). But on comparing this with the
analogous shading on an undoubted dotted print an important difference will appear.
There is not the regularity produced by the burin ploughing out two series of furrows
wliich cross one another at regular angles. lnstt- ad of this, it will be observed that
while lines of tolerable regularity can be perceived in one direction, the eye can
trace no simiiar lines crossing them from another side. It would seem rather that
the (black) lines produced by simple hatching in one direction on the wood-block
had afterwards been laboriouslv broken up into irregular dots by cutting out piect-s
from them with the knife. Moreorer, this methol of shading is combined with
another, never to be seen on tlie dotted prints, in which two rows of short horizontal
strokes are ranged, as it were, along an imaginary vertical line, branching off from
it alternately to 1. and r. See especially tlie drapery of St. Antonv, no. (1) and
St. Barbara, no. (8). The more ordinary hatching in single rows of straight lines,
either detached or placecl along the edge of an outline, recalls by its dull mechanical
regularity the technique of the wood-cutters of the Netherlands. Of actual design
carried out in white line there is none, except the wall in the background of
Sk Nicholas, no. (5), wliere the courses of the brickwork are drawn in white, ihe
bi'ieks tkemselves being black (elsewhere brick walls are represented by very regular
rows of short blach lines, which suggest the courses of the brickwork very effectively,
without actually outlining the bricks), and the name of St. Sebastian, no. (7), where
the letters are white on a black ground. The inscriptions elsewhere are black, as in
woodcuts, and this exception can easily be accounted for, as an attempt to copy tlie
technique of the maniere criblge on another material. The white pattern on tho fioor
in no. (5) may be explained in the same way. The black lines in tlie maniere criblee
uever have the regularity and even thickness everywhere observable in this set, whilst
liere there is nothing comparable in fineness to the burin-work which occurs in the
dotted prints. Another point of dissimilarity is the scarcity of black masses, and the
complete ahsence of the thin white lines by which the main outlines of the composition
weve generally, thougli not invariably, drawn on the metal before any details were
put in. The backgrouuds are cut away quite clean. The border of no. (3), St. Macarius,
is slightly broken away at the top, exactly in the manner found on wood-blocks. The
whole set is uniform in size [c. 53 x 42] and colouring. The paper is stained a light
buft, which contrasts with the white paper on wlnck the MS. is written. J?he colours