All Topics  
Metalcut

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Metalcut
 
 
  Topics Metalcut Topic Home

Metalcut is a relief
Relief

A relief is a sculptured artwork where a modelled form is raised, or in sunken-relief lowered, from a flatish background plane without being disconnected from it....
 printmaking
Printmaking

Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable of producing multiples of the same piece, which is called a 'print....
 technique, belonging to the category of old master print
Old master print

An old master print is a work of art produced by a printing process within the Western tradition . A date of about 1830 is usually taken as marking the end of the period whose prints are covered by this term....
s. It was almost entirely restricted to the fifteenth century, and mostly in Northern Europe, mainly Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 and France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
. There was a late flowering of the original method around 1500 in France, with a series of lavish Books of Hours
Book of Hours

File:Boucicaut-Meister.jpgFile:Meester van Catharina van Kleef - Getijdenboek van de Meester van Catharina van Kleef4.jpgThe book of hours is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript....
. In the sixteenth century the technique continued to be used for elaborate borders and initial letters in books, notably by Jacob Faber
Jacob Faber

File:Eight Illustrations for a Hortulus Animae, by Hans Holbein the Younger.jpgJacob Faber or Jakob Faber, also known as the "Master IF" from the monogram on his prints, was a formschneider of woodcuts and metalcuts, engraver, designer of decorative prints and publisher....
.

There were actually two different techniques for making metalcut prints, with very different results.

The first technique is essentially that of woodcut
Woodcut

Woodcut - formally known as Xylography - is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges....
 but using a thin metal plate rather than a wooden block.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Metalcut'
Start a new discussion about 'Metalcut'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Metalcut is a relief
Relief

A relief is a sculptured artwork where a modelled form is raised, or in sunken-relief lowered, from a flatish background plane without being disconnected from it....
 printmaking
Printmaking

Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable of producing multiples of the same piece, which is called a 'print....
 technique, belonging to the category of old master print
Old master print

An old master print is a work of art produced by a printing process within the Western tradition . A date of about 1830 is usually taken as marking the end of the period whose prints are covered by this term....
s. It was almost entirely restricted to the fifteenth century, and mostly in Northern Europe, mainly Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 and France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
. There was a late flowering of the original method around 1500 in France, with a series of lavish Books of Hours
Book of Hours

File:Boucicaut-Meister.jpgFile:Meester van Catharina van Kleef - Getijdenboek van de Meester van Catharina van Kleef4.jpgThe book of hours is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript....
. In the sixteenth century the technique continued to be used for elaborate borders and initial letters in books, notably by Jacob Faber
Jacob Faber

File:Eight Illustrations for a Hortulus Animae, by Hans Holbein the Younger.jpgJacob Faber or Jakob Faber, also known as the "Master IF" from the monogram on his prints, was a formschneider of woodcuts and metalcuts, engraver, designer of decorative prints and publisher....
.

There were actually two different techniques for making metalcut prints, with very different results.

The first technique is essentially that of woodcut
Woodcut

Woodcut - formally known as Xylography - is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges....
 but using a thin metal plate rather than a wooden block. The areas not to print are cut away, or hammered back with punches. These prints look very much like normal woodcuts of the period, and it can sometimes be hard for experts to tell them apart. In both, the subject matter is almost entirely religious.

The second technique, was introduced in the second half of the century and worked from black to white, meaning that the print showed white lines on a black background, rather than the other way round as in the first technique. Usually the main lines of the figures and landscape were done in engraving
Engraving

Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass engraving are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing images on paper as prints or illustra...
. Then using metalwork punch
Punch

Punch can refer to:...
es , the rest of the image is composed of repeated use of the same pattern of punch in a particular area. These might be dots, circles, lozenges, stars, letters making text inscriptions, or more complicated shapes for the borders. Usually very little space is left undecorated.

Despite the limitations of the technique, many of the artists who used the second technique were very talented, and the best prints have considerable power. Compared to contemporary engravings and woodcuts , they were usually large, as the technique needed space on the plate. No names are known of the artists; presumably most of them were trained as goldsmith
Goldsmith

A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a Goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards....
s, as the punch shapes used were typical ones from goldsmithing.

As with the other contemporary print techniques, very few metal cut prints have survived. Prints made by the second technique are sometimes called prints in the dotted manner, or dotted prints.

See also

  • old master print
    Old master print

    An old master print is a work of art produced by a printing process within the Western tradition . A date of about 1830 is usually taken as marking the end of the period whose prints are covered by this term....
  • popular prints