Ulrich Varnbüler

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

For this work, Albrecht Dürer produced a drawing of his sitter from life, later turning it into a dramatic black-and-white woodcut. Almost a century later, the same block was reprinted in the Netherlands with two extra tone blocks in order to add color and increase the sculptural qualities of the image. A fashion for chiaroscuro drawings (which feature heightened contrasts of light and dark) in complementary colors likely influenced this choice, as did the fact that the original woodblock was beginning to wear down.

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