Crucifix with Three Angels and the Symbols of the Evangelists, c.1470-80 (hand-coloured woodcut with red,...

Early devotional woodcuts are very rare today because, ironically, they were such a common part of fifteenth-century life. Available by the thousands from peddlers or monastics and at shrines and fairs, these images were carried around, tacked up for use as home altars, sewn into clothing, and prayed to in the belief that they had intercessory powers. Eventually most simply wore out. The few that survive were typically pasted into book covers as special decorations. Only two impressions of the present image are known today. This print is among the earliest to bear both the name of the artisan or publisher and his address—the town of Rapperswil in Switzerland.