Initial letter P with children
ca. 1538
Medium
Woodcut
Dimensions
Sheet: 1 15/16 × 1 15/16 in. (4.9 × 4.9 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Anne and Carl Stern Gift, 1959
Accession Number
59.507.3(12)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Nestled within the intricate world of 16th-century printing, Vogtherr the Elder's *Initial letter P with children* (ca. 1538) is a delightful woodcut measuring just under 2 inches square. This tiny gem from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Drawings and Prints department captures a whimsical "P" adorned with playful, exemplifying the ornamental designs used to embellish books and manuscripts during the Renaissance. Vtherr, a prolific German artist and printmaker active amid the Protestant, mastered the woodcut technique—a relief printing method where intricate designs were carved into wood block...