History

The Art of Woodcutting and Artists during the German Renaissance

Renaissance as a term can be defined as the period in the course of the fifteenth century which was characterized by enlightenment and development in different fields. The idea started in Italy but later spread to cover the whole of Europe. Thinkers, artists as well as scientists were inspired by the Renaissance men from Italy. The greatest idea that was spread during this period was humanism. Humanism in this sense was the idea that human beings were the most valuable occurrence in the world and they had the ability not only to understand but also to influence the natural world. German Renaissance owes its origin to Italian Renaissance. This period is characterized by the shifting of human effort from the heavens to the world around them. In the course of this period, science and art came into the limelight and the scientists as well as artists enjoyed a great deal of respect and fame. They carried with them an aura of authority and good reputation. The Renaissance started in Italy and was spreading very fast to other European countries. German thinkers were enlightened by the Renaissance between the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries. This course of enlightenment was fueled by constant visit by German artist to Italy in a bid to acquire more knowledge and inspiration of the Renaissance (Pioch, 2002).

This period was also characterized by renewed vigor for classical learning. Classical learning formed a considerable part of what a person had to learn during the Renaissance period. The Ancient Greek as well as Roman art and literature formed the basis of art-related studies. Natural science owed its basis to the Roman as well as the Greek philosophies. The Germans are credited for having retained their culture despite adopting the Renaissance thinking from Italy. Many people are credited for having been influential in the course of the German Renaissance. Some of these people include, Martin Luther, Konrad Celtis, Johann Reuchlin, Johannes Guternberg, Albrecht Durer, among other people. In the context of this paper the focus is going to be on the artists during the German Renaissance period and particularly the woodcut artists (Silver, 2006).

Woodcut art
Woodcut is artistically referred to as xylography. It is a technique in relief printing which entails the carving of wood surface, the printing parts being maintained to the level of the surface and non-printing parts removed, mostly by gauging. The cutting is done along the wood grains as opposed to engraving which takes place at the end grain. Beech wood was the most preferred for artistic purposes. The surface of the wood is covered with ink using a brayer. Initially, woodcut art involved a great deal of division of labor with the designers leaving block carving to crafts men who were well known. In Germany, such craftsmen were known as Formschneide, the most notable people with this specialization during the Renaissance period were Hieronymus Andreae, Jost de Negker, as well as Hans Ltzelburger. Such men had their own workshops. These people then handed the job to specialist printers (Ross  Romano, 1974).

The printers employed such techniques as stamping, rubbing, or press printing. Stamping entailed the use of a fabric, which was placed on a flat surface and the block was placed on top of the fabric printing would be accomplished by hammering the block at the back. Rubbing was the method that was mostly used during the German Renaissance. The block was placed on top of a table and the cloth or sometimes paper placed on it. Its back was then rubbed using leather frotton or a burnisher. Printing press only came to be incorporated in woodcut art more recently, though they had existed even in the fifteenth century (Ross  Romano, 1974).

Woodcut art in Europe can be traced as far back as the beginning of the fifteenth century. In the middle of that century, woodcut became very cheap and as a consequence, the quality of the woodcuts depreciated. In 1475, Michael Wolgemut was at the prime of his expertise, producing very sophisticated woodcuts in Germany. Erhard Reuwich employed the concept of cross-hatching in the course of his production (Eisler, 2006). Albrecht Durer is credited to taking woodcut to a whole new level that has since never been rivaled. He is also credited with increasing single-leaf woodcut status. German is the origin of the first colored blocks, which were invented in 1508 (Silver, 2006). Such blocks are known as chiaroscuro. Hans Burgkmair takes all the praise for such an invention. To gain a better understanding on the development of woodcut art during the German renaissance, we are going to consider the contributions of some of the German woodcut artists, then probably look at the contributions of other artists who may not necessarily be Germans but made a special impact in woodcut during the period.

Hans Pleydenwurff
He is believed to have been born in 1420 in Bamberg, Germany. His father, Kunz Pleydenwurff was a painter and the mayor of Bamberg. He is credited with establishing a new style of realism that was greatly influenced by the painters in Northern renaissance. He is believed to have taught Michael Wolgemut. One of his sons Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, was to later become an assistant to Wolgemut. One of his most notable masterpieces is the Portrait of Georg Graf Lowenstein, who was a Bamberg canon. He died in 1472 (Pioch, 2002).

Michael Wolgemut
He was born in 1434 in Nuremberg, Germany. His father Valentin Wolgemut is said to have been one of his trainers. He married his former master, Hans Pleydenwurffs widow. His step son Wilhelm was his assistant. Wilhelm is considered to have been more gifted than his step father, but his career was not to blossom because of his death in 1494. Wolgemut headed a very large workshop, which was very busy in diverse branches of fine art. There were a number of student assistants, the most notable among them being, Albrecht Durer. He is one of the artists who is believed to have revived German woodcut standards (Koerner, 1993). He supplied book illustrations to a number of publishers who were based in Numberg. He was able to raise the depiction of volume as well as shading than had been the case before, due to advancement in engraving. Durer was to later advance his work to take it to a whole new level. In the workshop, Wolgemut was responsible for designing woodcuts. His works demonstrated an outstanding sense of vigor. Most of his works were for book illustrations, to be sold in Numberg. Numberg had cut its own niche as a centre of publishing in Germany, during that period. The most notable masterpieces which he produced with assistance from his grandson were Schatzbehalter der wahren Reichthumer des Heils in1491 and Historia mundi, by Schedel in 1493. He also engaged in painting. He died in 1519 in Nuremberg.

Hartmann Schedel
He was born in 1440 in Nuremberg, Germany. He was a physician, humanist as well as a historian. He is among the initial cartographers to utilize printing press. His tutor is believed to have been Matheolus Perusinus. His most notable accomplishment was scripting texts meant for Nuremberg Chronicle (Pioch, 2002).

Albrecht Durer
He was born in 1471 in Numberg, Germany. His father was called Ajtosi, a goldsmith by profession. He shifted from Nuremberg to Hungary. Durer had a godfather known as Anton Koberger. His godfather had originally been a goldsmith but he later ventured into printing and publishing. This venture thrust him into success and had an excess of 24 printing presses with offices both within Germany and out of it. Durer was training as a goldsmith but had demonstrated a great talent in drawing that Wolgemut took him as an apprentice in 1486, when he was fifteen years of age. After the apprentice period, one was required to take a leave to learn the works of other people (Hutchinson, 1990). Durer went to Netherlands, where he was welcomed by Paul and Casper who were goldsmiths and Ludwig who was a painter. He traveled to Strasbourg in 1493 to gain experience from Nikolaus Gerhaert. Durer went to Basel to gain experience from Georg, who was a blacksmith. He returned to Nuremberg in 1494, aged 23 years. He was married to Agnes through an arranged union which had been agreed upon in his absence. They did not bear children. He had become a competent painter, printmaker as well as a theorist. He traveled to Venice, Italy, in 1494 and stayed there till 1495. He was able to interact with and see the works of some of the greatest Italian artists at the time the most notable among them being, Giovanni Bellini (Panofsky, 1945).

He returned to Nuremberg in 1495 to 1505. In the course of his stay, he established his own workshop. Most of his works had taken into consideration, some of the Italian aspects of art. His works were very complex but balanced in terms of composition. Some of his prints led to his great fame that had spread all over Europe. Some people felt that no artist in Northern Renaissance could rival him. The most famous among his publications was the Nuremberg Chronicle, in 1493. He traveled to Italy more time to get a clear understanding of the early Renaissance artists. He died in 1528 in Nuremberg, Germany. His works were many in numbers but the most notable were the Apocalypse woodcuts, Knight, Death, and the Devil (1513), Saint Jerome in his Study (1514) and the Melencolia I (1514). He also documented theories on perspective, ideal proportions as well as mathematics (Sullivan, 2000).

Lucas Cranach (Elder)
He was born in 1472. He was a woodcut printmaker, painter, and engraver. His portraits were those of protestant reformation leaders and princes in Germany. He became the court painter of the Electors of Saxony. Most of his portraits were religious. He owned a personal workshop with many student apprentices, among them the young, Lucas Cranach, his son. His works were many in number. He died in 1553 (Silver, 2006).

Hans Burgkmair
He was born in 1473, in Augsburg, Germany. He was a woodcut printmaker and a painter. His father, Thomas Burgkmair, was also a painter. He learnt under Martin Schongauer at Colmar. He made a number of visits to Italy. Such visits had a remarkable influence in his style and he was able to establish his workshop in Augsburg. Most of his woodcuts were meant for book illustrations. His composition portrayed a blend of the German style and the Italian style, though he did not bring it out quite clearly. Most of his were woodcuts were the projects of Emperor Maximilian I. He worked in close cooperation with Jost Negker, who was a block cutter. He was an innovator of chiaroscuro woodcuts. He is also credited with being the initial user of tone block in the course of his works. He had other works in etching but did to venture into engraving. One of his famous works is the Lovers Surprised by Death (1510). He died in 1531 (Eisler, 2006).

Hans Baldung
He was born in 1480 in Swabia, Germany. They relocated to Strasbourg in the beginning of 1492. His trainer was Albrecht Durer and was by far the most gifted student in his class. His specialization was in woodcut printmaking and painting (Sullivan, 2000). He was given the responsibility of managing the workshop when Durer traveled to other countries (Forster, 2001). His works did not portray a great deal of Italian influence. His main area of specialization was in woodcut with majority being commissioned for publishing. He represented Luther in one of his woodcuts. He died in 1545 (Panofsky, 1945).

Lucas Cranach (Younger)
He was born in 1515. His main areas of specialization in art were woodcuts as well as paintings. He worked in his fathers workshop during his apprentice years. When his father died, he took charge of his workshop. He became very famous and respected in the society. He died in 1586 (Nuti, 1994).

Jost Amman
He was born in 1539, in Zurich, Switzerland. He was a well educated person. In 1560, he relocated to Numberg. His first partner was Virgil Solis, a renowned book illustrations producer. He was very productive and this is credited with producing a large number of woodcuts. He is one of the final artists who specialized in woodcuts as engraving was finally taking root in Germany during his times. In most occasions he hired a specialist formschneider, who were responsible for cutting the wood blocks for him (Eisler, 2006).

Conclusion
German Renaissance was able to bring out and add value to the art of woodcut. Many schools were set up during this period, which took students who had demonstrated talent. In a number of occasions, renowned artists trained their children to be of great reputation in art as they were. Woodcut artists and indeed other kinds of artists were very famous and respected. They were rich and had connections with the rulers. In most occasions they were hired by rich people and rulers who were very powerful. The privileges that went with art at the time ensured that the greatest of talents were well nurtured and rewarded. This can be best demonstrated by the number and expertise in woodcut art that Germany boasted of during its Renaissance. Albrecht Durer still stands out as a person who made a great difference to woodcut and to art in general. Some of these artists are still celebrated up to date. Their reputation crossed boarders and spread to other nations.