The ninety prints in this exhibition catalog trace the evolution of several styles of engraving and etching over a crucial period. At the beginning of this time, engraving in Northern Europe was primarily a by-product of the goldsmith's workshop and the artist's studio. Its implications as a medium of reproduction were only beginning to be grasped, and the very idea of reproducing a work of art in another medium was scarcely defined. By the end of the period, engraving was the medium of choice for making reproductions of works of art in all media, and a range of styles had evolved that balanced reproductive fidelity, calligraphic virtuosity, and durability in the printing of an edition. This volume features three scholarly essays on the history of printmaking in the Netherlands and includes 116 b/w illustrations.

Betr. u.a. Hans Holbeins Totentanz in den "Simulachres & historiées faces de la mort", Lyon 1538 (S. 176-179).

Structured around in-depth and interconnected case studies and driven by a methodology of material, contextual, and iconographic analysis, this book argues that early European single-sheet prints, in both the north and south, are best understood as highly accessible objects shaped and framed by individual viewers. Author David Areford offers a synthetic historical narrative of early prints that stresses their unusual material nature, as well as their accessibility to a variety of viewers, both lay and monastic. This volume represents a shift in the study of the early printed image, one that mirrors the widespread movement in art history away from issues of production, style, and the artist toward issues of reception, function, and the viewer. Areford's approach is intensely grounded in the object, especially the unacknowledged material complexity of the print as a portable, malleable, and accessible image that depended on a response that was not only visual but often physical, emotional, and psychological. Recognizing that early prints were not primarily designed for aesthetic appreciation, the author analyzes how their meanings stemmed from specific functions involving private devotion, protection, indulgences, the cult of saints, pilgrimage, exorcism, the art of memory, and anti-Semitic propaganda. Although the medium's first century was clearly transitional and experimental, Areford explores how its potential to impact viewers in new ways?both positive and negative?was quickly realized.