Genealogical Page; published in the Nuremberg Chronicle by Hartmann Schedel
1493
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1493
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Genealogical Page; published in the Nuremberg Chronicle by Hartmann Schedel is a 1493 by Michael Wolgemut, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This woodcut shows a page from the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle. It’s packed with family trees and tiny figures, all carved into wood then printed in ink. The page lists generations from Adam and Eve down to European kings. This single page is one of 1,809 woodcuts in the book. Before this, most history books had no pictures at all. The artist used sharp lines to carve every detail into a block, then stamped it onto paper like a giant stamp. See how the lines feel crisp and clear? That’s the trick of woodcut printing. Check out Michael Wolgemut (German, 1434–1519) next.
