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Playing Card

German 15th Century

1470

ink

From the collection of National Gallery of Art

Renaissance Renaissance

Dominant colour

Playing Card is a 1470 ink by German 15th Century, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.

Who painted this?: German 15th Century
When & what style?: 1470 · Renaissance
Where can I see it?: National Gallery of Art

About this work

This image shows a faded, rough drawing of playing cards on a light background. The shapes are simple—hearts, clubs, and spades—but the lines are uneven, like they were carved by hand. The paper looks old and worn, with brown stains and a few tears along the edges. Woodcuts like this were made by carving designs into wood, then pressing ink onto the surface. The artist used only black ink, so the shapes stand out against the pale, uneven paper. Next, look up technique: woodcut to see how this printing method worked.