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  Against the Grain: Woodcuts from the Collection > History of the Woodcut > Color
 
 
Hans Wechtlin (German, 1480/85-after 1526). <I>The Knight and Lansquenet,</I> about 1512; chiaroscuro woodcut. John L. Severance Fund 1950.241
Hans Wechtlin (German, 1480/85-after 1526). The Knight and Lansquenet, about 1512; chiaroscuro woodcut. John L. Severance Fund 1950.241

Color

Other developments in 16th-century woodcuts include printing in color. Around 1508, Hans Burgkmair investigated ways to duplicate the effect of chiaroscuro drawings. Executed on paper washed a middle tone, dark ink creates shadows while white is used for highlights. Hans Wechtlin's The Knight and Lansquenet illustrates how one woodblock prints the outline of the image in black and another block prints colored areas of tone; the unprinted white paper serves as highlights.
In about 1516, this technique was adopted by the Italian Ugo de Carpi, who sometimes eliminated the line block. Instead, he formulated the design by three or four tone blocks printed in as many shades of a single color, each one carrying a portion of the design. The image is only complete when all of the blocks have been successively printed. Domenico Beccafumi's Saint Peter is printed from four blocks in four shades of brown. Beccafumi, the most imaginative, daring, and versatile printmaker of the Italian Renaissance, treated each impression as a separate work of art, experimenting with the number of blocks printed and varying the color combinations.

Domenico Beccafumi (Italian, 1484-1551). <I>Saint Peter</I>, about 1547; chiaroscuro woodcut. Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2002.9
Domenico Beccafumi (Italian, 1484-1551). Saint Peter, about 1547; chiaroscuro woodcut. Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2002.9

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