Initial A and a New Year's Wish

1483

German 15th Century

Associated Names
German 15th Century

Artist

This is a drawing of an illuminated manuscript page featuring a large decorative initial, ornate borders and flourishes, and text in a Gothic script. The initial letter is an ornamental "A," filled with intricate vine and leaf patterns, bordered by lines. Above the text, a ribbon decorated with an illustration of a figure and another motif contains a title or heading written in a slender cursive style. The surrounding areas are lightly decorated with botanical elements, and the text is carefully lined and structured across the page. The paper shows some signs of aging.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut, hand-colored in olive green, rose, orange, green, brown, and yellow-green

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.642

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Schreiber, no. 1908, State a

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Martin Aufhäuser [1875-1944], Munich, Holland, and Los Angeles; [1] Lessing J. Rosenwald, Jenkintown, PA; gift to NGA, 1943.
[1] For complete information on Aufhäuser's collection, see Rosenwald Papers, box 9, and Richard S. Field, Fifteenth Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts, Washington, D.C., 1965, Preface (np).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1965

  • Fifteenth-Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, NGA, 1965-1966, no. 273, repro.

1971

  • A Selection of Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-Century Book Prints from the National Gallery of Art Rosenwald Collection, New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, 1971, no. 9.

Bibliography

1926

  • Schreiber, Wilhelm Ludwig. Handbuch de Holz- und Metailschnitte des XV Jahrhunderts. 8 vols. Leipzig: Verlag Karl W. Hierseman, 1926-1930.

1965

  • Field, Richard S. Fifteenth Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. Exh. cat. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1965.

Wikidata ID

Q64953130

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