Saint George slaying the Dragon (Schreiber 2640a)

Metalcuts were produced mostly along the Lower Rhine and in Cologne, for a relatively short period only, between 1450 and 1500. Although printed from metal plates, they are not intaglio prints like engravings, but relief prints: it is not the incised line or punched indentation that prints but the surface, which is covered in ink. The actual design remains blank, thereby creating a negative image, white on a black printed background. This principle led to the invention of the ‘dotted manner’, whereby small punches were used to give texture and ornament to otherwise solid black areas. The present unique print is most closely related to a group of metalcuts attributed to the Cologne workshop of the so-called Master of the Aachen Madonna. Despite its tiny scale and relatively crude manner, this delightful little print conveys a remarkable sense of movement and drama.