Underweissung der Proportzion und stellung der possen
Medium
Woodcuts
Dimensions
Overall: 6 15/16 x 5 3/8 x 3/8 in. (17.7 x 13.7 x 1 cm)
Classification
Books
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1946
Accession Number
46.134
Tags
Art Historical Context
This 1538 instructional manual, titled *Underweissung der Proportzion und stellung der possen* (Instruction in the Proportions and Poses of Figures), was created by Nuremberg artist Erhard Schön with woodcuts likely printed by Christoff Zell. The compact volume served as a practical guide for artists, using geometric diagrams and male nude studies to teach the construction of balanced human forms. Schön, influenced by Albrecht Dürer’s theories on proportion, employed simple lines, circles, and measurements to break down complex poses into accessible steps. Published during the Northern Renais...
About the Artist
Erhard Schön|Christoff Zell|William Chatto
He was famed as a popular printmaker, with attributions including around 1200 illustrations for 116 books and about 200 separate woodcuts. Among the best works are the woodcuts that he and Hans Springinklee made for the "Hortulus animae", published in Nuremberg in 1515 by Johannes Koberger. It was one of the most popular pre-Reformation anthologies of prayers, published in at least 20 German and L...