Drawn entirely from the National Gallery’s collection, the exhibition features rare prints by iconic artists such as Albrecht Dürer and Hendrick Goltzius, along with spectacular works by their printmaking contemporaries, including masterpieces never before exhibited at the museum. From small allegorical compositions intended for private contemplation to oversize, multisheet woodcuts made for civic decoration, these engravings, etchings, and woodcuts highlight the immense creativity and technical skill of the graphic artists working north of the Alps.
“In our image-filled world, it is hard to imagine the sense of possibility that the burgeoning art of printmaking presented in the 15th and 16th centuries. This exhibition takes us back to that moment, when artists of the Northern Renaissance developed innovative styles and techniques that captivated the public and collectors,” said Kaywin Feldman, director, National Gallery of Art. “In recent years we have been fortunate to acquire several rare prints that help us present a fuller picture of this vital period of printmaking.”
Exhibition Organization and Curator
The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
The exhibition is curated by Brooks Rich, associate curator of old master prints, National Gallery of Art.
The exhibition is made possible by a generous grant from the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust.
Exhibition Dates
July 3–November 27, 2022
Exhibition Overview
The exhibition begins with a room devoted to prints made circa 1460 to 1550 in Germany and Switzerland, the region where print production first flourished in northern Europe. Artists in cities on international trade routes such as Nuremberg, Augsburg, and Basel were perfectly situated to reach broad audiences with new genres and formats of the printed image. Examples such as Hans Weiditz the Younger’s commemorative woodcut likeness of Emperor Maximilian I (1519) and Daniel Hopfer’s etching of Martin Luther (1523) illustrate how printed portraits served to shape and extend a sitter’s popular legacy. Erhard Schön’s monumental woodcut Army Train and Death (c.1532), a five-foot-long procession of mercenary soldiers, and Urs Graf’s exceedingly rare white-line woodcut of a Standard Bearer from Bern (1521) reflect pride in regional military might and independence.
Artists in this period also understood the potential of prints as self-promotional tools and began signing compositions with their initials to promote their personal brands. The exhibition features two engravings monogrammed by Albrecht Dürer, including Saint Jerome Penitent in the Wilderness (c. 1496), an early work that demonstrates the artist’s unparalleled command of the medium. Another highlight of the show, a woodcut depicting a Battle of Naked Men and Peasants (1522) set in a forest of northern fir trees, is signed with the full name of the block cutter, Hans Lützelburger. The print advertises the craftsman’s ability to depict local landscapes, delineate dynamic figures, and carve alphabetic type for printing. Several works, including an etched portrait of Emperor Charles V by Daniel and Hieronymus Hopfer (1521), reveal how 16th-century hand-coloring could enhance the visual impact of these black and white prints.
The second room features prints made in the Netherlands between roughly 1560 and 1600 when cities such as Antwerp and Amsterdam became printmaking hubs. Prints in this room show the period’s collaborative process. Professional printmakers often translated designs by other artists into carved wood blocks or incised metal plates for replication. Print publishers typically financed and coordinated the production, sold the sheets, and reaped most of the profits. The publisher Hieronymus Cock appears at the door to his shop in a 1560 print from a series designed by the architect and painter Hans Vredeman de Vries. This is one of several prints in the exhibition, including a Panel of Ornament with a Niche and Strapwork (1557) designed by Cornelis Floris II, that the prolific brothers Johannes and Lucas van Doetechem etched and engraved for Cock. These works also reflect the tastes of an emerging class of educated art collectors who sought prints of mythological subjects or scenes from everyday life containing moralizing messages. Jan Sadeler’s depiction of A Pleasure House (1588), engraved after a design by Joos van Winghe, entices the viewer to join the party but warns in its Latin inscription about the sins of lust and overindulgence. On the other hand, Gerrit Pietersz Sweelinck’s sinuous etching Charity with Faith and Hope (c. 1593) celebrates the Christian virtues in allegorical form. Northern artists also took inspiration from their Italian Renaissance counterparts. Some, such as Hendrick Goltzius, traveled south to study the masters in person. His engraving The Triumph of Galatea (1592) reproduces Raphael’s famous fresco in Rome using his own virtuosic combination of lines and hatching techniques.
Albrecht Dürer
Saint Jerome Penitent in the Wilderness, c. 1496
engraving on laid paper
sheet: 31.7 x 22.3 cm (12 1/2 x 8 3/4 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Joan and David Maxwell Fund, Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund and The Ahmanson Foundation
Daniel Hopfer and Hieronymus Hopfer
Emperor Charles V, 1520 (1521?)
etching (iron) with open biting and unique contemporary hand-coloring in green, red, yellow, pink and brown
plate: 22 x 15.3 cm (8 11/16 x 6 in.)
sheet: 22.1 x 15.6 cm (8 11/16 x 6 1/8 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Purchased as the Gift of Ladislaus and Beatrix von Hoffmann
Urs Graf I
Standard Bearer for the Canton of Bern, 1521
white-line woodcut on laid paper
image: 19.1 x 10.6 cm (7 1/2 x 4 3/16 in.) (irregular)
mount: 21.5 x 13.5 cm (8 7/16 x 5 5/16 in.) (irregular)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund
Hendrick Goltzius
Venus and Cupid, 1596
engraving on laid paper
plate: 34.3 x 25.5 cm (13 1/2 x 10 1/16 in.)
sheet: 35.6 x 25.9 cm (14 x 10 3/16 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen
Jörg Breu the Elder
The Virgin and Child with Saint Conrad and Saint Pelagius, 1504
hand-colored color woodcut on laid paper
sheet: 24.4 x 14.1 cm (9 5/8 x 5 9/16 in.)
mount: 31 x 26.2 cm (12 3/16 x 10 5/16 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Purchased as the Gift of Ann and Matthew Nimetz, 2012.1.43.1
Jan Sadeler I, after Joos van Winghe
A Pleasure House, 1588
engraving on laid paper
sheet (trimmed within plate at bottom): 38.6 x 48.2 cm (15 3/16 x 19 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
Albrecht Dürer and Georg Mack the Elder
Christ on the Mount of Olives, 1508 and 1580s
engraving hand-colored with watercolor and gouache, heightened with gold and silver, on laid paper mounted to a piece of parchment decorated with floral borders
sheet: 17.5 x 12.8 cm (6 7/8 x 5 1/16 in.)
sheet: 25 x 22.5 cm (9 13/16 x 8 7/8 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Purchased as an Anonymous Gift
Hendrick Goltzius after Raphael
The Triumph of Galatea, 1592
engraving on laid paper
plate: 55.7 x 41.8 cm (21 15/16 x 16 7/16 in.)
sheet: 55.9 x 41.8 cm (22 x 16 7/16 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, The Ahmanson Foundation
Hans Lützelburger, after Master NH
Battle of the Naked Men and Peasants, 1522
woodcut on laid paper
image: 15 x 29.6 cm (5 7/8 x 11 5/8 in.)
sheet: 18.5 x 30 cm (7 5/16 x 11 13/16 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Ruth and Jacob Kainen Memorial Acquisition Fund
Pieter van der Heyden, after Hieronymus Bosch
Shrove Tuesday, 1567
engraving on laid paper
plate: 22.3 x 28.8 cm (8 3/4 x 11 5/16 in.)
sheet: 26.2 x 31.8 cm (10 5/16 x 12 1/2 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Hope and Julian Edison