Origins of European Printmaking
Fifteenth-Century Woodcuts and Their Public
Peter Parshall and Rainer Schoch; With David S. Areford, Richard S. Field, and Peter Schmidt
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Price: $75.00
September 15, 2005
376 pages, 9 1/2 x 12
53 b/w + 177 color illus.
ISBN: 9780300113396
Cloth
Published in association with the National Gallery of Art, Washington
The first comprehensive history of late medieval printmaking, which transformed image production and led to profound changes in Western culture
This highly anticipated and beautifully illustrated book examines the evolution of early printmaking in late medieval Europe. Through their means of production and the evidence of their utility, prints are explored in a broad social and economic context. Key topics include the complex problem of reconstructing the beginnings of the European woodcut; the practice of copying and dissemination of models endemic to the medium; and the varied functions of the print from the spiritual to the secular.
A team of expert authors examines the many ways in which fifteenth-century woodcuts and metalcuts reflect the nature of piety and visual experience. Replicated images helped to structure private religious practice, transmit beliefs, disseminate knowledge about material facts, and graph abstract ideas. Mass-produced pictures made it feasible for people of all stations to possess them, thereby initiating a change in the role of images that eventually helped alter the definition of art itself.
The Origins of European Printmaking is an essential book for art historians, students, and collectors, as well as the general reader with an interest in medieval history and culture.
Peter Parshall is curator and head of the department of Old Master prints at the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rainer Schoch is vice director and head of the graphic arts collection at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg
EXHIBITION SCHEDULE
Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg (December 14, 2005 – March 19, 2006)
National Gallery of Art, Washington (September 4 – November 27, 2005)
"One of the most comprehensive and impressive volumes to analyze and assess late medieval printmaking. Scholarly, far-reaching and always informative. A must for the serious artbook collector."—Art Times
""The catalogue, featuring contributions by Richard S. Field, Peter Schmidt, and David S. Areford, is a comprehensive history of late medieval woodcuts and explores the topic in a broad social and economic context."—Artdaily.com
"The catalogue is a monument to print scholarship and its high production standards will be hard to emulate."---Burlington Magazine
"Gorgeous and substantial…wonderfully melds beauty with scholarship [and] recommended for all libraries with collections related to medieval printmaking."—Library Journal
