CREATING With Shadows: Light and Darkness in Some Northern Renaissance Prints will be the subject of March 13's lunchtime talk at York Art Gallery.

Presented by the Friends of York Art Gallery, the 12.30pm talk will be given by Lucy Booth, the Friends' research scholar, who says: "Throughout the history of art, prints have often been neglected in favour of other mediums, such as painting and sculpture.

"The possibility of depth and colour in paintings and the life-like three-dimensionality of sculpture have made the monochrome line fundamental to prints a neglected area of study among some scholars, with the exception of individual greats such as Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt van Rijn.

"In this talk, I intend to show some of the most excellent prints from York Art Gallery’s collection of northern renaissance prints, while also demonstrating that prints are an art form worthy of real respect in their own right."

Many of the prints to be shown and discussed will be from the collection of John Bowes Morrell, donated to the Exhibition Square gallery after his death. "Most of them have never been on display and this talk presents an exciting opportunity for the gallery and the Friends to show off some of the works in our collection," says Lucy.

"As the collection is so large, I've chosen to centre my talk around the most dramatic examples of chiaroscuro [the treatment of light and shade in drawing and painting]. Within this brief, I'm delighted to be able to show examples of a range of genres, from landscape to allegory, and a range of artists, from Rembrandt to works with no known artist. I also hope to touch upon methods of creation and the role that prints played in the art world of the Renaissance."

All visitors to York Art Gallery are welcome to attend.