A Brief History of Wood-engraving from Its Invention Part 6

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CHAPTER IX

_HANS HOLBEIN AND HANS LuTZELBURGER_

Hans Holbein, who first saw the light at Augsburg in the year 1497, was the greatest artist ever born in Germany, and as he pa.s.sed half of his artistic life in England we may claim some little share in the glory of his undisputed eminence.

The son of a worthy painter of sacred pictures for the Church, he was brought up amidst all the paraphernalia of the studio, and at a very early age began to design t.i.tle-pages, initial letters, and ornaments for numerous important books published by Johann Froben, Valentine Curio, and other printers of Basel, and Christoph Froschover, of Zurich. Some of these folio t.i.tle-pages, most of which are of an architectural character, are veritable works of art, and are greatly treasured at the present day. Next we find him making ill.u.s.trations for the New Testament, some of which were engraved on wood and some on metal, probably by Dienecker or Lutzelburger, though of this we have no direct evidence.

But Holbein's greatest fame, as a designer of book-ill.u.s.trations, is derived from his well-known series of the 'Dance of Death,' which was first given to the world in the year 1538, though from some proofs still in existence they are known to have been engraved before the artist's first visit to London in 1527. It is believed that the original forty-one drawings on wood were all cut by Hans Lutzelburger, who has been very properly called the 'True Prince of Wood-Engravers,' for, in the opinion of our foremost critics, these 'Dance of Death' cuts are the masterpieces of the art at that period, excelling even the work of Jerome Andre of Nurnberg on Durer's 'Triumphal Arch.' {82}

[Ill.u.s.tration: HOLBEIN'S DANCE OF DEATH THE KING]

Seventeen other designs were added to the 'Dance of Death' afterwards, making the complete series fifty-eight. The original blocks are lost; they have been copied on the Continent many times, and were reproduced in England in perfect facsimile and in the very best manner under the superintending care of Francis Douce, a celebrated antiquary, by John and Mary Byfield and George Bonner, all excellent engravers. Accompanied by a learned dissertation by Mr. Douce, the work {83} was published by William Pickering[7] in the year 1833. It is from electrotypes of these blocks that we are enabled to present to our readers the designs of 'The King,' 'The Queen,' 'The Astrologer,' and 'The Pedlar,' four of the best of the series.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HOLBEIN'S DANCE OF DEATH THE QUEEN]

Wall-pictures of 'The Dance of Death,' with but little artistic merit, existed at a much earlier period, and some of them may still be traced in the cloisters of old cathedrals. The subject was a great favourite with both priest and people in the Middle Ages; it appealed to the feelings of rich and poor, old and young, and Holbein's 'fearful' pictures, as soon as they appeared, met with immense popularity, which, to this day, has never ceased. {84}

[Ill.u.s.tration: HOLBEIN'S DANCE OF DEATH THE ASTROLOGER]

Almost every cla.s.s is represented in them--the King at his well-spread board is served by his fellow King, who fills his bowl; the Queen, walking with her ladies, is led into an open grave; in a landscape, in which we see a flock of sheep, Death appears to an aged Bishop; here we see Death running away with the Abbot's mitre and crozier; there he visits the Physician and the Astrologer. In the church is a Preacher who holds the people in awe, behind him is a Preacher more dread still; the Miser with his bags, the Merchant with his bales, are alike surprised by Death; the Knight's armour is defenceless, the Pedlar with his basket cannot escape, the Waggoner with {85} his wine-cart is overthrown. All are represented in their turn--the d.u.c.h.ess in her bed, the poor woman in her hovel, the child who is ruthlessly taken from his mother. We can imagine the sensation which such a work would create among a very impressionable people at that season of religious ferment, the greatest the world has ever known. Thirteen editions from the original blocks are known to have been printed between the years 1538 and 1563.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HOLBEIN'S DANCE OF DEATH THE PEDLAR]

About the same time another series of wood-engravings appeared, consisting of eighty-six designs by Holbein, drawn on wood larger than the 'Dance of Death' blocks and just as well engraved, probably by Lutzelburger; these were 'Scenes from Old Testament History,' generally known as 'Holbein's Bible Cuts'; they were issued separately with descriptions in verse and were also used to ill.u.s.trate Bibles. {86}

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE HAPPINESS OF THE G.o.dLY.--HOLBEIN'S BIBLE CUTS _Engraved by Lutzelburger_]

This series was also reproduced by the same artists who cut the 'Dance of Death,' under the superintendence of Mr. Douce; and it is from electrotypes of these blocks that we are enabled to give our two Bible ill.u.s.trations, 'The Happiness of the G.o.dly' (Psalm i.), and 'Joab's Artifice' (2 Samuel xiv. 4). They copy the original prints in exact facsimile, and, looking at them, one cannot but wonder at the high state of perfection to which the art of wood-engraving had attained nearly four hundred years ago. At that time, Germany stood alone in its excellence; France, and even Italy, were far behind her; and England and Spain were nowhere. We ought to add that both the 'Dance of Death' and the 'Bible Cuts' were {87} issued, with text, by the brothers Trechsel, the celebrated publishers of Lyons, in 1538, when Holbein must have been in England.

A wonderful alphabet, with 'Dance of Death' figures, evidently designed by Holbein, has Hanns Lutzelburger (Formschnider) genant Franck printed at the foot of the page. These letters were probably engraved on metal. A 'Peasant's Dance' and 'Children's Sports,' designed as headings of chapters by the same artist, are well known, as they have been frequently reproduced.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JOAB'S ARTIFICE.--HOLBEIN'S BIBLE CUTS _Engraved by Lutzelburger_]

In the works of 'The Little Masters' who succeeded Durer and Holbein we are not much concerned. Albrecht Altdorfer (d. 1538) was a designer as well as an engraver on wood. Hans Beham (d. 1550?) is best known by his {88} twentysix designs from the Apocalypse which Mr. Linton praises as of 'supremest excellence.' He says, moreover, that they were probably engraved on metal (perhaps copper), by Beham himself, as well as his 81 little Bible cuts which were used to ill.u.s.trate the first English Bible. He also designed and perhaps engraved several large cuts, one of which, 'The Fountain of Youth,' is four feet long; another is 'The Dance of the Daughter of Herodias,' reproduced by Dr. Lippmann. Hans Brosamer (d. 1552) designed and engraved pictures for books. Heinrich Aldegrever (d. 1558) is well known for his portraits of Luther, Melanchthon, and the notorious John of Leyden. Virgil Solis (d. 1562) was a prolific book-ill.u.s.trator; he designed a series of 216 Bible pictures, all of small size, as well as 178 cuts for Ovid's 'Metamorphoses,' and 194 for aesop's Fables; he also designed and probably engraved much ornament, especially for t.i.tle-pages of books, some of which was very good. Jost Amman (d. 1591) is celebrated for his book of 'All Ranks, Arts, and Trades,' with one hundred and thirty-two figures. (See page 128).

The religious books printed in Germany at the end of the sixteenth century were altogether inferior as regards their ill.u.s.trations, though a few are fairly designed and executed. Ornamental borders, especially on t.i.tle pages, were usual, and those designed by Lucas Cranach are of considerable merit. Many of the German printers' marks or devices, which are very well engraved, were the work of some of the best artists of the times.

These were but expiring efforts, and by the end of the century, owing to continual warfare and internal disturbances, the art of wood-engraving in Germany was almost forgotten.

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CHAPTER X

_IN ITALY AND FRANCE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY_

In the early years of the sixteenth century, the printers of Florence issued many cheap popular books, chiefly _Rappresentazioni_, i.e. Plays, sacred or secular. These plays are generally badly printed in double columns, but they are ill.u.s.trated with numerous cuts, some of which are of peculiar merit. The earliest known printer of them was Frances...o...b..nvenuto (c. 1516-1545), but the majority appear to have been issued between 1550 and 1580, anonymously, though we know that Giovanni Baleni of Florence was the printer of some of these.

There were also many quaint little tracts, metrical _Novelle_ and _Istorie_, of which a collection has been found at the University Library, Erlangen; a valuable description of them was published by Dr. Varnhagen.

The poems are, as a rule, ill.u.s.trated with small cuts, inclosed within a neat border, the subjects are usually well chosen, and the drawing very good; the treatment of some of the domestic scenes is worthy of Bewick.

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[Ill.u.s.tration: FRONTISPIECE OF 'LE SORTI DI MARCOLINI'

_By Giuseppe Porta Venice 1540_]

[Ill.u.s.tration: LE POT-Ca.s.se (_Device of Geoffroy Tory_)]

In striking contrast to the simplicity of these popular wood-engravings are the elaborate engravings which appeared in the more expensive books issued in the latter half of the same century, when ill.u.s.trated editions of Dante, Boccaccio, Ovid, aesop's Fables, and Alciat's 'Emblems,' appeared, one after the other, but not one of these calls for {91} special notice; nor did the best of their wood-engravings equal the work of Lutzelburger. The frontispiece of a curious book, _Le Sorti di Marcolini da Forli_, printed at Venice in 1540, of which we offer a reduced copy, gives us a good idea of the prevailing art of the period. It is said to be taken from a design by Raphael for his celebrated picture 'The School of Athens,' and we see by the tablet in the foreground that it was either drawn on the wood or engraved by Joseph (Giuseppe) Porta, known as Salviati, after his more celebrated master whom he accompanied to Venice.

In Paris, in the first half of the sixteenth century, there lived a very celebrated printer, 'Geoffroy Tory, Peintre et Graveur, Premier Imprimeur Royal, Reformateur de l'Orthographe, et de la Typographie,' as he is described by his biographer, M. A. Bernard (Paris, 1857). He was born at Bourges in 1480, and in early life went to Paris, where he not only wrote books and printed them, but designed ornamental borders and engraved them.

He also studied his profession in Italy, and brought back with him new ideas about printing and ill.u.s.trating books. Such a man had great influence at that time, for he had much inborn taste and excellent skill, and publishers should all be proud of him as one of their most praiseworthy ancestors. He adopted the singular design the _Pot-ca.s.se_, of which we give a copy, as his somewhat enigmatical device; and some writers maintain that the little 'Cross of Lorraine' (++) found on many of the cuts of this period is also his mark. {92}

[Ill.u.s.tration: FROM 'LES HEURES' PRINTED BY SIMON DE COLINES _Engraved by Geoffroy Tory_]

{93} In our ill.u.s.tration, taken from the _Heures_, printed by Simon de Colines, this Cross of Lorraine will be seen under the kneeling priest. He made antique letters, he himself tells us, for Monseigneur the Treasurer for War, Master Jehan Grolier, whom we know as one of the best patrons of book-binding; and wrote a book which he called '_Champfleury, auquel est contenu l'art et science de la deue proportion des lettres ... selon le corps et le visage humain_,' a very learned and amusing treatise. Some of the initial letters in this book are very cleverly designed and engraved--probably by the ingenious author. The picture of 'Antoine Macault reading his translation of Diodorus Siculus to the King' is said to have been engraved by Tory; it is evidently either from a design by Hans Holbein or by an artist who copied his style. All the figures in this excellent engraving are portraits--the King (Francis I.), his three sons, and his favourite n.o.bles. It is the best cut that was issued at Paris at this time.

Geoffroy Tory died in 1533, though his workshop was carried on for many years afterwards.

Among other woodcuts of this period we find a small portrait of the poet Nicholas Bourbon, dated 1535. As this is a direct copy of the portrait of the same individual, undoubtedly by Holbein, which is now at Windsor Castle, and as the ornamentation is quite in Holbein's style, we cannot doubt that this celebrated painter had frequent relations with the publishers on the Continent in the first half of the sixteenth century.

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[Ill.u.s.tration: ANTOINE MACAULT READING HIS TRANSLATION OF DIODORUS SICULUS TO KING FRANCIS I.

_Designed by Holbein. Engraved by Geoffroy Tory?_]

{95} Another celebrated printer who enjoyed the patronage of the King was Robert Estienne, who, by some curious perversity, is frequently spoken of by English scholars and biographers as Robert Stephens, simply because, following the fas.h.i.+on of the day, he often latinised his name and signed Robertus Stepha.n.u.s. Estienne was, next to Aldo Manuzio of Venice, the most learned of printers, and deserves to be held in due reverence. The most important ill.u.s.trated book he published was 'The Lives of the Dukes of Milan,' by Paulus Jovius (Paris, 1549). This work has sixteen portraits of the Dukes, well engraved, some say by Geoffroy Tory himself, but this is a matter of dispute, though they certainly were cut in his workshop.

Among the most characteristic works of the wood-engraver in the middle of the century were two large processions, 'The Triumphal Entry of King Henri II. into Paris,' published by Roville of Lyons, in 1548, and 'The Triumphal Entry into Lyons,' issued in the following year. These prints were designed either by Jean Cousin or Cornelis de la Haye, but the name of the engraver is nowhere mentioned. They are somewhat similar to 'The Triumph of Maximilian,' by Burgkmair, but are not nearly so important as works of art, and did nothing to raise the character of wood-engraving.

In the books published in the second half of the century we frequently meet with the name of Bernhard Salomon (born at Lyons in 1512), generally called Le Pet.i.t Bernard, who made designs for Alciat's 'Emblems' (A.D. 1560) and Ovid's 'Metamorphoses' (A.D. 1564), which were engraved in the workshop of Geoffroy Tory, and published by Jean (or Hans) de Tournes, of Lyons.

Bernard's style was much influenced by the Italian painters Rosso and Primaticcio, who had been invited by the King to decorate Fontainebleau, and may be easily recognised by the extreme height and tenuity of his figures, and by the peculiar ornament which he used as framework for his drawings.

Another book containing equally good ill.u.s.trations is _Ghesneden Figuera wyten Niewen Testamente_ ('Engraved Figures from the New Testament'), adorned with ninety-two small cuts besides the t.i.tle-page and initial letters; these were drawn and probably engraved by Guilliame Borluyt, {96} citizen of Ghent, and published by Jean de Tournes of Lyons in 1557. From the fineness of the lines and other indications we suspect these designs were cut on metal, which was much used at this time instead of wood.

Through the kindness of Messrs. H. S. Nichols & Co., of Soho Square, who possess an excellent copy of this very rare book, we are enabled to offer our readers two cuts, 'The Woman of Samaria' and 'Christ Scourged,' of the same size as the originals. The publishers of Lyons were celebrated from the end of the fourteenth to the middle of the fifteenth century for their dainty little books, which were very prettily ill.u.s.trated.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHRIST AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA _By Guilliame Borluyt_]

We must not conclude this chapter without mentioning another celebrated publisher, Christophe Plantin of Antwerp. He was born at Saint-Avertin, near Tours, in 1514, and at an early age apprenticed to a printer and book-binder, Robert Mace, at Caen; thence he went to Paris, whence wars soon drove him away. He next took refuge at Antwerp, where he employed himself in binding books and making leather boxes, _coffrets_, curiously inlaid and gilt. {97}

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SCOURGING OF CHRIST _By Guilliame Borluyt_]

By mistake he was, one dark evening, stabbed with a sword, and he afterwards suffered so much pain from the wound that he could not stoop without feeling it: consequently he turned to the business of a printer, and soon became the most celebrated man of the day in that craft. Philip II. of Spain made him his chief printer, and under royal orders Plantin produced the well-known Polyglot Bible in eight folio volumes (1568-1573).

He had previously printed some smaller books of Emblems (1564), and _Devises Heroques_ (1562), and had employed Pierre Huys, Lucas de Heere, G.o.defroid Ballain, and other artists, to ill.u.s.trate them. He died in 1589.

His second daughter married Jean Moret, one of the overseers of {98} the printing-office, and the business known as 'Plantin-Moretus' continued to prosper up to the present century. A few years since the offices were bought by the city authorities, and the Plantin Museum is now one of the princ.i.p.al attractions of Antwerp. In his various works Plantin used many woodcuts, but most of his t.i.tle-pages have borders executed by Wierix, Pa.s.s, and other celebrated copperplate engravers. His device was a Hand with a pair of compa.s.ses, and his motto _Labore et Constantia_.

The history of wood-engraving and wood-engravers in Holland forms the subject of a monograph from the pen of Mr. W. M. Conway ('The Woodcutters of the Netherlands,' Cambridge, 1884). The list commences with a Louvain engraver, who worked for Veldener in 1475, and about the same time for John and Conrad de Westphalia.