woodcuts Woodcut is a relief printing process in which
an image is printed from a block of wood onto a sheet of
paper, in much the same way as text is printed from mov-
able type. The image is first drawn, in reverse, on the
block. Those areas of the block’s surface corresponding to
those parts of the print which the artist wishes to appear
white are then gouged out with special knives. After cut-
ting, the untouched wood which stands out corresponds
to the black lines of the resultant print. This remaining
surface of the block is then inked and pressed firmly
against a sheet of paper, transferring the image from the
former to the latter. As the woodblock is less malleable
than the plate used in ENGRAVINGit is more suitable for
printing large editions, such as those required by publish-
ers of illustrated books. However, the technique is less
subtle than engraving and less amenable to the printing of
fine detail.
The earliest European woodcuts, such as the “Bois
Protat,” date from about 1400 and may originally have
been used for textile printing. The technique was also
used from an early date for the printing of playing cards
which, for obvious reasons, had to appear as much like
one another as possible. Some illustrated books were pub-
lished from large woodcuts, with text and illustrations cut
on the same block. After GUTENBERG’s invention of PRINT-
INGwith movable metal type in the 1450s, such experi-
ments were abandoned, and the woodcut illustration,
together with the metal type, became the two essential
components in the printing of illustrated books. At the be-
ginning of the 16th century, the so-called “chiaroscuro
woodcut” was developed, initially by Hans BURGKMAIRand
Lucas CRANACHin Germany and by UGO DA CARPIin Italy.
This technique utilizes a series of blocks, printed one after
the other to create color effects. As it was both expensive
and complicated, this technique was used for individual
prints rather than for books during the Renaissance.
From the earliest times, artists supplied the designs
for woodcuts, while the task of cutting the block was en-
trusted to specialist block cutters, who were actually a
kind of highly trained carpenter. During the 15th century,
woodcut, like printing itself, was essentially a German art
form, which reached its highest expression in deluxe il-
lustrated books, such as the Nuremberg Chronicle (Liber
chronicarum) of Hartmann Schedel, published by Anton
Koberger with numerous woodcuts by Michael WOLGE-
MUTat Nuremberg in 1493. Initially the Italians lagged
somewhat behind, but by 1499 a distinctively Italian aes-
thetic of woodcut illustration had been created, in such
works as the HYPNEROTOMACHIA POLIFILI of Francesco
Colonna, published by Aldus MANUTIUSin Venice with
numerous unsigned woodcuts of superb quality. Albrecht
DÜRERrevolutionized the woodcut as an artistic medium
by refining its technique to a level of subtlety that had pre-
viously only been found in engravings. To achieve this, he
must necessarily have trained a team of block cutters to
his own, uniquely exacting standards.
However, despite this technological leap, there is a
gradual falling off in the artistic quality of later woodcuts.
HOLBEIN’s Dance of Death (1523/24) cycle is, arguably, the
last great Renaissance masterpiece in this technique. Al-
though later woodcuts were often of outstanding techni-
cal virtuosity and of considerable formal and iconographic
variety, the technique steadily became less the province of
avant-garde artists and more that of publishers and print-
ers (see BOOK ILLUSTRATION).Worms, Diet of (1521) An assembly (Reichstag) of the
estates of the Holy Roman Empire, the most important
business of which was the condemnation of Martin
LUTHER. The case against Luther, who had already been
excommunicated, was stated by the papal legate, Giro-
lamo ALEANDRO, in the presence of Emperor CHARLES V. In
a famous act of defiance Luther refused to retract his an-55006 6 wwooooddccuuttssWoodcutThe Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1498). This
woodcut from Dürer’s Apocalypseportrays the four scourges
of humanity as described in the biblical book of Revelation
(6:2–8).
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