Page 35 - Inventions - A Visual Encyclopedia (DK - Smithsonian)

INTAGLIO PRINTING
In 15th-century Germany a
new type of printing called
intaglio was invented. This
process uses images cut into
a metal plate often made of
copper or zinc and covered in
ink. The plate is pressed into
paper, creating sunken
areas that hold the ink. EARLY BREAKTHROUGHS
Copperplate printing press

CHIAROSCURO
◀ HAND PRESS
Gutenberg set up his press WOODCUT
with metal type that could In this technique, invented
be arranged to print any in Germany around 1509, an
page, and used a specially
developed thick, sticky ink. image’s outline is carved into
a wood block, and then further
blocks are carved with additional
details. The blocks are pressed
in turn onto paper, each block
overprinting the image made
by the one before. The result is
a picture with contrasting areas
of light and shape that make an
image look three-dimensional.
Chiaroscuro is an Italian word
meaning “light-dark”.

Chiaroscuro print of a ceiling
design with three angels
When the image is
printed, it appears in
reverse on the paper.
LITHOGRAPHY
Invented by the German
Alois Senefelder in the 1790s,
lithography is based on the fact
that oil and water do not mix.
A greasy substance is used to
draw an image onto limestone,
which is then dampened with
water. When ink is spread on
the stone it sticks only to the
grease, and the image is
A solid wood framework pressed onto paper.
held the press steady Lithography printing
during printing. in a workshop
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