DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.67683#0503
FROM GOTHIC AGE TO NINETEENTH CENTURY 343
intensity and sincerity of his convictions and his imaginative
powers. The woodcuts also illustrate his highest attainment, for
they are free from that excessive detail that mars the engravings.
This is largely due to the necessities of the medium. The design
is drawn on the block of wood in ink; then the wood is cut away,
leaving the ink lines raised. Such a process demands elimination
of detail on the part of the designer, and patience and skill on
the part of the cutter.1 In Diirer’s woodcuts there is a robust,
brilliant, and convincing
quality that is due to the
bold vigor of his draughts-
manship, to the vivacity of
his clear crisp lines, and to
the decorative effect of his
massing of pure blacks and
whites with no half-tones
(Fig. 104). In producing
this effect lies the power of
the really successful wood-
cut.
A different conception we
meet in the Saint Jerome in
His Study (Pl. 136s), as
well as a different technique.
This print is from an engrav-
ing on copper. Here is a
delightful atmosphere of
peace, quiet, and orderliness
meditation. The sun streams warmly through the little round
panes. The Saint sits at his desk absorbed in work, quiet and
disregardful of the movement of the sands in the hourglass be-
hind him. The lion and the dog are dozing in perfect repose. The
books, the cushions, and even the slippers underneath the bench
suggest relaxation and comfort. It is this feeling of wholesome-
ness and sweetness that is the outstanding impression. But the
more one looks at the print the more he realizes Diirer’s fidelity
to minute detail — the knots in the beams of the ceiling, the
scissors and writing materials on the wall behind the Saint; the
fine discrimination of texture in the wood, the glass, the fur of
the animals, and the different stuffs. All this detail Differ has
Fig. 104. Diirer. Saint Christopher.
Woodcut. 1511 A.D.
— an atmosphere conducive to
been able to hold somewhat in subordination by means of a cer-
1 Some illustrators cut their own blocks; others do not. In Diirer’s case it seems probable
that this part of the work was done by a professional cutter.
intensity and sincerity of his convictions and his imaginative
powers. The woodcuts also illustrate his highest attainment, for
they are free from that excessive detail that mars the engravings.
This is largely due to the necessities of the medium. The design
is drawn on the block of wood in ink; then the wood is cut away,
leaving the ink lines raised. Such a process demands elimination
of detail on the part of the designer, and patience and skill on
the part of the cutter.1 In Diirer’s woodcuts there is a robust,
brilliant, and convincing
quality that is due to the
bold vigor of his draughts-
manship, to the vivacity of
his clear crisp lines, and to
the decorative effect of his
massing of pure blacks and
whites with no half-tones
(Fig. 104). In producing
this effect lies the power of
the really successful wood-
cut.
A different conception we
meet in the Saint Jerome in
His Study (Pl. 136s), as
well as a different technique.
This print is from an engrav-
ing on copper. Here is a
delightful atmosphere of
peace, quiet, and orderliness
meditation. The sun streams warmly through the little round
panes. The Saint sits at his desk absorbed in work, quiet and
disregardful of the movement of the sands in the hourglass be-
hind him. The lion and the dog are dozing in perfect repose. The
books, the cushions, and even the slippers underneath the bench
suggest relaxation and comfort. It is this feeling of wholesome-
ness and sweetness that is the outstanding impression. But the
more one looks at the print the more he realizes Diirer’s fidelity
to minute detail — the knots in the beams of the ceiling, the
scissors and writing materials on the wall behind the Saint; the
fine discrimination of texture in the wood, the glass, the fur of
the animals, and the different stuffs. All this detail Differ has
Fig. 104. Diirer. Saint Christopher.
Woodcut. 1511 A.D.
— an atmosphere conducive to
been able to hold somewhat in subordination by means of a cer-
1 Some illustrators cut their own blocks; others do not. In Diirer’s case it seems probable
that this part of the work was done by a professional cutter.