Metalcuts
The earliest known metalcut produced in Basel is from a book printed by Froben in 1518, when Faber had already been working for Froben for two years; this is very likely to be by Faber, who in any case soon became Froben's main cutter in metal. Between 1520 and 1523, Faber executed metalcuts designed by Hans Holbein the Younger, at first exclusively. His early technique was relatively crude, using long parallel hatching lines for shadows that took little account of the volumes of figures and space. However, his work improved rapidly, presumably for two reasons. Firstly, Holbein, who was himself progressing markedly in his grasp of printmaking, probably took a closer personal interest in Faber's execution, after at first merely handing over his designs and leaving the style to the cutter. Secondly, the skilled woodcutter Hans Lützelburger arrived in Basel in 1522, bringing with him technical and artistic standards that may have stimulated Faber's own work. Lützelburger possessed a technique capable of doing justice for the first time to Holbein's highly detailed and challenging designs.
Faber's metalcut of the Title Page Border with Children and an Old Couple deployed shorter and more varied hatching than that of his earliest work, resulting in a greater roundness of forms. His progress continued in the Title Page Border with Tantalus, which distinguished between surface textures. Faber also began placing light and shadow more calculatingly, achieving enhanced visual and spatial effects. His heightened conception of space showed itself in his Title Page Border with Greek and Roman Philosophers and Authors of Antiquity in 1522 and reached a peak in the last metalcut he executed for Holbein in Basel, the Title Page Border with Christ as Intercessor before God the Father, the Four Symbols of the Evangelists and the Mission of the Apostles, in 1523. A metalcut of King Henry VIII in council, once said to be after Holbein, signed "IF", was used in English books, first appearing in 1548 in Hall's chronicle and subsequently being used in Foxe's Book of Martyrs.
Faber and other metalcutters may have influenced Lützelburger in turn, challenging him to further refine his technique. The metalcut possessed an advantage over the woodcut in close hatching because fine print lines between the furrows in the wood would sometimes break, marring the print. Lützelburger responded with technical advances of his own, achieving a greater subtlety in the woodcut medium. This period was one of revolution in all aspects of printmaking in Basel.
Read more about this topic: Jacob Faber