The Bewitched Groom 1539 - 1549

Hans Baldung created this striking print, ‘The Bewitched Groom,’ sometime in the first half of the 16th century. He used a technique called woodcut, in which the image is carved in relief out of a block of wood – traditionally pear wood, which holds fine detail. Ink is then applied to the raised surface and printed onto paper. Here, the artist coaxes a wide range of tonalities from what is essentially a binary medium of black and white. Notice the areas of dense hatching, creating deep shadow, and compare them to the lighter, more open lines that suggest the play of light across the figures. This control came only with considerable labor, as Baldung would have painstakingly removed the material around each line with specialized carving tools. This was not just a feat of technical skill, but also a commercial proposition. Prints like these were a relatively affordable way for people to have art in their homes, bringing new audiences to art. It is a reminder that materials, processes, and social context are all crucial to fully understanding the artwork.