Explanatory Text, Part V, from the Arch of Honor, proof, dated 1515, printed 1517-18
Medium
Woodcut and letterpress
Dimensions
Sheet: 18 1/16 × 24 5/8 in. (45.9 × 62.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928
Accession Number
28.82.11
Art Historical Context
This striking woodcut and letterpress sheet, titled *Explanatory Text, Part V*, served as a key component of the monumental *Arch of Honor*, a vast collaborative print project conceived in 1515. Created as a proof and printed between 1517 and 1518, it offered viewers detailed commentary on the symbolic imagery of the larger composition. Measuring over 18 by 24 inches, the sheet demonstrates the ambitious scale of early 16th-century printmaking, where text and image worked together to convey complex ideas to a broad audience. The combination of woodcut illustration and letterpress typography h...