1523
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Letter R is a 1523 ink by Hans Lützelburger, a Renaissance work, depicting Letter, held at National Gallery of Art.
This woodcut shows the letter “R” in a fancy Gothic font. The curves have thin lines inside them that make the letter look carved from wood. The artist filled the empty spaces with tiny leaves and flowers. This wasn’t just a letter—it was a piece of type made for a printing press. Printers used blocks like this to set books in the 1500s. You can still see the tool marks where the knife cut the wood. Look up woodcut.
Hans Lützelburger (died June 1526), also known as Hans Franck, was a German blockcutter ("formschneider") for woodcuts, regarded as one of the finest of his day.
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