Christ Taking Leave of His Mother, from Speculum passionis domini nostri Ihesu Christi 1507

This image, Christ Taking Leave of His Mother, was made by Hans Schäufelein during the early 16th century. It’s a woodcut, meaning that the image was carved into a block of wood, then inked and printed onto paper. The process has everything to do with the final product. Look closely, and you'll notice how the lines are not fluid like a pen drawing, but rather sharp and deliberate. The artist would have used a variety of knives and gouges to carefully remove the wood around the lines that would be printed. This technique demanded precision and control, not unlike the skills found in carpentry. Woodcuts like this one were relatively inexpensive to produce compared to engravings on metal, which meant that images could be circulated widely. This one comes from a book, so it was part of a larger project of information sharing, spreading religious stories to a broad audience. Appreciating the labor and materials involved really deepens our understanding, and it allows us to think about the context for which it was made.