Page:History of the German people at the close of the Middle Ages vol1.djvu/227

 215 CHAPTER III WOOD AND COPPER ENGRAVING Wood and copper engraving followed close upon the development of painting in Germany. During the latter half of the fifteenth century these two arts were considered a necessary supplement of painting, were placed on an equal footing with it, and were cultivated by eminent artists. This German invention of engraving was as im- portant in its results to art in general as typography was to science and learning, being the means by which artistic works were multiplied and brought within reach of all classes. But its services were not limited to art. It helped to forward intellectual development generally. As printing preserved the results of intellectual activity, so did engraving give lasting form to the works of the imagination. It was at first chiefly employed in the cause of religious education, and thus we find the practice of the art during a considerable period mostly confined to monasteries. The mendicant orders especially were wont to supplement their instructions by the distri- bution of appropriate pictures among the people. They used them, moreover, for their own edification and for the glorification of their patrons and founders. By degrees these pictures came to be wanted not only for ecclesiastical but for domestic use. Private indi-