History of World Art II: Day 21 - Printing and Printmaking

During the 15th century the Graphic Arts blossomed in Northern Europe stemming from the technological advancements in movable type around 1450 and the printing press shortly thereafter. Johannes Gutenberg was a goldsmith and businessman from Mainz in southern Germany, and it was he who developed the first fore-runner to the modern printing press out of wooden movable type out of screw-type wine presses found in the Rhine Valley. Ink would be rolled over the surface of the type and sheets of paper would be feel through the press. It remained the standard until the 20th Century.

Other printing techniques had been around in the East for centuries, but it became much more embraced in Norther Europe during the 15th century then anywhere and any other time before. This development revolutionized the way information was disseminated throughout Europe. The written word became accessible to everyone like never before and it allowed for rapid development of arts, sciences and religion through a rapid transmission of information and helped dramatically raise the literacy rate. From there artist stepped in with other printmaking arts to include illustrations and images within the type set page. The use of relief and intaglio printing techniques such as woodblock, etching, and engraving also developed rapidly during this time.