Der Schatzbehalter: Gathering of Manna - Michael Wolgemut

A 1491 woodcut by Michael Wolgemut depicting the biblical gathering of manna, taken from the Nuremberg publication 'Der Schatzbehalter'.

This woodcut originates from the 'Der Schatzbehalter' (The Treasure Chest), a religious text published in Nuremberg in 1491. Michael Wolgemut, a master of the Nuremberg school and teacher to Albrecht Dürer, oversaw the production of the illustrations for this volume. The image depicts the biblical account of the Israelites gathering manna in the wilderness.

Wolgemut employs a clear, narrative style typical of late fifteenth-century German printmaking. The composition is organised around a series of tents, which provide a rhythmic structure to the scene. Figures are shown in various postures of collection, kneeling or bending to gather the small, circular manna that covers the ground. The sky is filled with a dense pattern of falling manna, represented by uniform circles, while birds fly amongst the tents.

The line work is precise and functional, designed to be legible when printed alongside movable type. The artist uses hatching to define the folds of the garments and the texture of the tent fabric, creating a sense of volume despite the lack of traditional perspective. The scene is devoid of excessive ornamentation, focusing instead on the clarity of the biblical narrative. This print offers a view into the technical capabilities of early printing workshops, where woodcut blocks were carved to accompany theological treatises. The work reflects the standard visual language used to communicate scripture to a literate and semi-literate audience in the late medieval period. It remains a representative example of the collaborative nature of the Nuremberg workshops, where artists and craftsmen worked in tandem to produce mass-distributed religious imagery.