Skull

About this work

Here’s the painting. It shows a grinning skull with deep shadows around its eye sockets. The artist used a special woodcut method called chiaroscuro. This means he carved two blocks of wood: one for the light areas and one for the dark, then printed them together. The blue ink gives the skull an eerie glow. Back then, artists often used woodcuts for books. This one might have been made for a medical or religious text. If you like this bold style, check out another work by the same artist, Wechtlin I, Hans.