The Knight and Lansquenet
1512
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1512
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
A knight in shiny armor stands next to a soldier in puffy sleeves. The background is a flat red-brown, and the white paper shows through for the brightest spots. This print was made with two blocks of wood—one for the black lines, one for the color. The artist left the paper bare where the light hits hardest, like the knight’s helmet. It’s an early way to add depth without mixing paints. Look up *chiaroscuro* to see how later artists used light and shadow in the same way.
