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Playing Cards

Italian 15th Century

1470

ink

From the collection of National Gallery of Art

Renaissance Renaissance Allegory

Dominant colour

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

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

About this work

This image shows four simple black-and-white figures standing in boxes. Each person holds a different object—a spear, a staff, a sword, or a shield. Their clothes look old-fashioned, with crowns or fancy hats on some heads. The background is plain, and the whole thing looks like it was carved into wood. The figures might stand for ideas or roles, not just people. The artist used a method where the image is cut into wood, then inked and pressed onto paper. Next, look up woodcut to see how this printing trick worked.

About the artist

Artist

Italian 15th Century

This anonymous Italian engraver from the 1490s carved images that could be peeled apart like paper dolls—each knot in the "First Knot" print was cut from a single sheet so you could lift the loops right off the page.

See the richer artist page