The exhibition Woodcuts from the Age of Titan showcases around 30 exquisite prints by 16th-century Venetian artists, with an emphasis on works emulating the premier painter of his day, Titian. Masters including Domenico Campagnola and Giuseppe Scolari are also represented with important works. These woodcuts of international stature, in some cases rarities, come from the collection of the Hamburger Kunsthalle’s own Department of Prints and Drawings and are being exhibited here for the first time on this scale. The iconography of the often large-format woodcuts includes Christian themes and landscape scenes. Other motifs are the female nude, portraits and anatomical depictions.

The works of graphic art on display demonstrate the Venetians’ pronounced interest in printmaking and thus an explicit engagement with reduced colouration. The selected artworks thus expand our knowledge of the versatile practice of Venetian artists during this period, as the lagoon city, in contrast to Florence, is generally seen as a centre of European painting in which colour took precedence over line.