Original printed leaf with fine woodcut by the master Urs Graf. From Guillermus Parisiensis, “ Postillia super epistolas et evangelia. Printed by Michael Furter in Basel, 1513. (Leaf size: 200 x 150mm – 7.75 x 6 inches)
This leaf contains a commentary in Latin on the Epistles and Gospels of the New Testament. The central panel is composed of a 67 x 55mm - 2.75 x 2.25 inch woodcut and biblical text. It is surrounded by two columns of about 50 lines in two sizes of Gothic text with commentary & marginal cross references.
The central woodcut is a detailed scene of Christ & his Disciples in a landscape setting a man attempting to remove a mote from his brother’s eye not aware of his own impediment – from Luke 6:37-42: “In illo tempore Dicit iesus…” (And at that time Jesus said to his disciples: Be ye therefore merciful as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven…And why seest thou the mote in thy brother’s eye: but the beam that is in thy own eye thou considerest not…). Woodcut signed in the lower border with Graf’s initials.
Urs Graf (1485-1529?) was a Swiss Renaissance goldsmith, painter and printmaker, as well as a Swiss mercenary. He produced about 100 known woodcuts, a small number of engravings and two etchings, (one of which dates from 1513 – the earliest known etching for which a date has been established) . His woodcuts are considered of greater significance – strongly influenced by Albrecht Durer and Hans Balding. Graf is one of the earliest known artists to employ white-line woodcut technique, where white lines create the image on a black background.
Shipped unmatted
