Henry Wolf

Before the photographic half-tone process, photographic images were printed directly onto woodblocks for carving. This process, sometimes referred to as photo-xylography or photographic wood engraving, involved coating the woodblock with light-sensitive material and exposing it under a photographic negative. This is how the image of an oil painting by Spanish artist Diego Velázquez was transferred onto the woodblock on display here. Rather than carve an artist’s drawing into the block, as was the case with Gustave Doré’s Bible illustrations, engravers instead worked into a photographic image. Given its high degree of realism, photographic wood engraving became a popular means of illustrating famous works of art.