Answer :
Final answer:
Engraved woodcuts first emerged among artists in Europe by the early fifteenth century, becoming more established by the mid-fifteenth century. Wood engraving offered sharper lines than woodcuts and has been used for artistic and cultural expressions by numerous artists like Albrecht Dürer.
Explanation:
Engraved woodcuts first emerged among artists in the 15th century. Early in Europe, specifically by the early fifteenth century, copper plates were widely used for engraving to produce items like playing cards and various illustrations. This practice became much more established by the mid-fifteenth century. Then, wooden type was utilized in the 1420s in the Netherlands.
Notably, by the time of the Renaissance, woodcuts and engravings were profoundly influenced by artists like Albrecht Dürer, exemplified by his work The Rhinoceros in 1515, crafted through this technique. Indeed, wood engravings offered sharper, crisper lines than woodcuts and were widely used in artistic expression, often carrying themes or social messages as seen in the works of Rockwell Kent and Lynd Ward. Meanwhile, in Asia, particularly in China, block printing with wood had developed much earlier and was a common practice throughout East Asia.
