Michael Wolgemut

In 1491, the Franciscan friar Stephan Fridolin wrote the Schatzbehalter, a book that tells the story of Christian salvation through 100 events. Illustrated with 96 full-page woodcuts—of which these two sheets are examples—the book aided in the instruction and devotion of a growing literate audience.

The woodcuts were made in Nuremberg, Germany, in the workshop of Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, who used shading and cross-hatching sparingly to convey form. Three-dimensionality is instead suggested here by hand-coloring in opaque watercolors that obscure rather than enhance the sharpness of the print’s black lines.