Roman Majuscule Alphabet 1515 - 1525

This sheet of the Roman Majuscule Alphabet was etched by Daniel Hopfer, a German artist working in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. It demonstrates his skill in the relatively new printmaking technique of etching. Hopfer used iron plates, covering them with wax before drawing through the wax to expose the metal. Acid was then applied, biting into the metal to create the lines, and then the plate was inked and printed. The material is critical to the image’s aesthetic. The relatively rough surface of the iron plate, and the corrosive action of the acid, created a distinctly different effect from the precisely engraved lines of earlier printmaking. Hopfer was one of the first to use etching, which would become a key technology for the mass dissemination of images. The texture, the weight, and the fineness of the lines all speak to the artist's deep understanding of both craft and design. Through an exploration of the materials and making, we see how this artwork bridges both craft and fine art.