Grand Scale

Book excerpt: Grand Scale brings to light rare surviving examples of mural-size prints--a Renaissance art form nearly lost from historical record. The most famous 16th-century woodcuts, engravings, and etchings were those done on an intimate scale. Yet artists also worked in another entire category of print production, producing mural-size prints that sometimes reached as high as ten feet. This handsome book, which features nearly fifty examples from Italy, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, explores these multi-block woodcut and multi-plate engraving ensembles as vital contributions to the visual culture of their time. Comprising five essays, Grand Scale documents the relationship of monumental prints to the history of prints in general and also to mapmaking, painting, and book illustration, while addressing image design and modular printing from multiple, repeating blocks. Published in association with the Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College Exhibition Schedule: Davis Museum and Cultural Center (March 19 - June 8, 2008) Yale University Art Gallery (September 9 - November 30, 2008) Philadelphia Museum of Art (January 31 - April 26, 2009)