Kristi himmelfart 1630 - 1676

This print, titled "Kristi Himmelfart," or "Christ's Ascension," was made by Marx Anton Hannas, a 17th-century artist. It’s a woodcut, meaning that the image you see was carved in relief from a block of wood, then inked and pressed onto paper. The process dictates the aesthetic: notice the stark contrast of black and white, and the linear quality of the image. Hannas would have used specialized knives and gouges to meticulously remove the wood around the lines he wanted to print. Look closely, and you can see the way he built up tone through hatching and cross-hatching. Woodcut is a relatively accessible medium, historically used for both devotional images like this one, and for popular prints. The labor-intensive process also speaks to the dedication required to spread religious messages. In this way, the very material and making of the print reinforce the message it conveys, making it a powerful piece of visual communication.