DOI issue:
Woodcuts
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61201#0017
XXXI
SCHOOL OF DURER (?)
Ornamental Letter S
From the impression in the University Library Erlangen^ photographed by permission of Dr, Zucker.
The original woodcut is almost unknown and of the utmost rarity. The Berlin Cabinet
possesses another impression, slightly cut at the sides, so that the border is lost. A collotype of this
impression, greatly reduced, was published in 1877 by J. E. Wessely in his work “Das Ornament und
die Kunstindustrie in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwickelung auf dem Gebiete des Kunstdruckes,” Bd. L,
Bl. 48, Nr. 117. Wessely says that Schorn attributed it to Diirer (I cannot trace the reference); he
rejects this attribution and suggests the name of Urs Graf. To me it seems probable that the
woodcut is of Nuremberg origin, but it is hard to name its designer. It stands quite alone in its
proportions—was it meant for the heading of some huge and magnificent poster?—and in the vigour
of its drawing. If a name must be spoken, I can think of none more plausible than that of Peter
Flotner, a wood-carver, wood-engraver, medallist and architectural draughtsman of Nuremberg, whose
importance as a pioneer of the German Renaissance has only recently been recognised. It was his
habit to design ornaments in white on black, and the features of the human head and some ornamental
motives in this large letter are not irreconcilable with his manner. But I find nothing to convince me
that the work is his, and its probable date, 1520-30, would be very early in Flotner’s career. The
work is not that of a beginner feeling his way. It is worth remarking, however, that the small, but
rich, collection at Erlangen contains a considerable number of fine and rare works by Flotner, both
drawings and woodcuts.
One might wish that the great S of foliage, with its beautiful vine-leaves and tendrils and
adaptation of the classical acanthus, had not been associated with two clumsy pillars of nameless style
and two ungainly putti.
PRINTED FOR THE DURER SOCIETY, NINE HENRIETTA
STREET, COVENT GARDEN, IN THE COUNTY OF
LONDON, BY ALEXANDER MORING, AT
HIS PRESS, AT FIFTY-TWO HIGH
HOLBORN, DECEMBER, ONE
THOUSAND NINE
HUNDRED
SCHOOL OF DURER (?)
Ornamental Letter S
From the impression in the University Library Erlangen^ photographed by permission of Dr, Zucker.
The original woodcut is almost unknown and of the utmost rarity. The Berlin Cabinet
possesses another impression, slightly cut at the sides, so that the border is lost. A collotype of this
impression, greatly reduced, was published in 1877 by J. E. Wessely in his work “Das Ornament und
die Kunstindustrie in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwickelung auf dem Gebiete des Kunstdruckes,” Bd. L,
Bl. 48, Nr. 117. Wessely says that Schorn attributed it to Diirer (I cannot trace the reference); he
rejects this attribution and suggests the name of Urs Graf. To me it seems probable that the
woodcut is of Nuremberg origin, but it is hard to name its designer. It stands quite alone in its
proportions—was it meant for the heading of some huge and magnificent poster?—and in the vigour
of its drawing. If a name must be spoken, I can think of none more plausible than that of Peter
Flotner, a wood-carver, wood-engraver, medallist and architectural draughtsman of Nuremberg, whose
importance as a pioneer of the German Renaissance has only recently been recognised. It was his
habit to design ornaments in white on black, and the features of the human head and some ornamental
motives in this large letter are not irreconcilable with his manner. But I find nothing to convince me
that the work is his, and its probable date, 1520-30, would be very early in Flotner’s career. The
work is not that of a beginner feeling his way. It is worth remarking, however, that the small, but
rich, collection at Erlangen contains a considerable number of fine and rare works by Flotner, both
drawings and woodcuts.
One might wish that the great S of foliage, with its beautiful vine-leaves and tendrils and
adaptation of the classical acanthus, had not been associated with two clumsy pillars of nameless style
and two ungainly putti.
PRINTED FOR THE DURER SOCIETY, NINE HENRIETTA
STREET, COVENT GARDEN, IN THE COUNTY OF
LONDON, BY ALEXANDER MORING, AT
HIS PRESS, AT FIFTY-TWO HIGH
HOLBORN, DECEMBER, ONE
THOUSAND NINE
HUNDRED