Letter painter

Letter painter Jost Ammans in the status book .

Letter painters designed and colored documents, certificates, calendars, coats of arms, congratulatory letters, but also pictures of saints and playing cards . Inspired by the woodcut technique , the letter painters also worked with wooden stamps with which they printed their templates. They were often their own form cutters and also involved in the production of block books .

The profession has now died out in Germany. It originated in the 15th century when the population's demand for profane images and writings increased.

See also

• Card painter
• Shape cutter
• Single-leaf woodcut

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See the Lexicon of Lost Professions by R. Palla, keyword “Briefmaler”, p. 57.

literature

• Rudi Palla : Falkner, Köhler, Kupferstecher - A compendium of the lost professions , Frankfurt am Main, 1994
• Theodor Kohlmann : model engraver, letter painter, illuminist and map painter . In: Lexikon des alten Handwerks , ed. v. Reinhold Reith , Munich, CH Beck 1990, ISBN 3-406-34470-4 , pp. 164-167