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Hi All,
And hi, Tom and MichaelS. I can’t argue against the quote from Von der Zweiten in die Dritte Dimesion - 500 Jahre Bauen mit Karton, as these folks certainly know more about the subject than I do. But I’ll offer a few ideas as to why the crucifix may be a copperplate intaglio print.
When I first discussed the crucifix, I passed on the information gleaned from the Tektonten link seen above. It agreed with my memory of other sources that referred to the print as a woodcut. I have built this model, and I remember it being nicely “drawn,” with fine lines of a nearly uniform weight. There is ample shading, and the form and perspective of the various figures, though limited, is pleasing to the eye. I think that the lines seen in the print would be much easier to accomplish by pushing a graver through copper than to carve them into a block of wood.
Tom Greensfelder is an accomplished artist and book designer, and I believe he has the practical skills and experience to create a satisfying image using either copper or wood. I’ll ask for his help here if I get off track. Generally, a copperplate intaglio engraving is made by cutting grooves, in reverse, into a flat copper plate with a small, v-shaped tool called a graver. Once the engraving is complete, ink is wiped or rolled onto the plate, filling the grooves. Then the flat surface of the plate is thoroughly cleaned, being sure to leave the ink in the grooves. The plate is mounted in the press and a sheet of paper placed in contact with the plate. Now, great pressure is applied and the paper is pressed into the inked grooves, resulting in a finished print. When dry, you can actually feel the raised ink on the paper, as on a new one dollar bill or the wedding invitations that the rich girl’s parents send out. That’s intaglio printing.
Woodblock prints are somewhat different. Unlike a copper plate, the areas removed from the wood are the areas that will not transfer ink to the paper. That means that every one of the small lines seen in the crucifix would need to stand proud of the rest of the block. This would be quite hard to do. As mentioned in the quote sited above,"Woodcuts were closely related to folk images and illustrations.” This is because they are usually more crudely rendered than the more sophisticated copperplate prints. There may be woodblock techniques that use a similar process to a copperplate engraving, but that strikes me as impractical. Firstly, consider that wood is absorbent, and it would be more than difficult to completely remove the ink from the face of the woodblock before printing. Also, when it comes to longevity, a metal engraving will last much longer than a carved piece of wood. Wood is an unstable and comparatively brittle material compared to metal, and the greater pressures needed for intaglio printing would possibly deform and break the woodblock.
Finally, as the Tektonten site mentions, Gerog Hartmann, the crucifix’s designer, was a mathematician and most importantly, a designer and constructor of scientific instruments. A picture of one of his astrolabes, taken from the Wikipedia site, is seen below. There can be no question of his metal working abilities, and if given the choice between working in metal or wood, I think he would chose metal.
None of my ramblings here prove anything, of course, but I may have made a point or two in favor of the old paper model being a copperplate intaglio engraving rather than a woodcut print.
Score and fold,
Thumb Dog
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