Die Wichtelmännchen und das Ei
A German picture book from 1876 by Lothar Meggendorfer, telling the story of the Wichtelmännchen, small bearded gnome-like sprites, and an enormous egg. The pictures are pen-and-ink wood engravings with dense hatched shadows and pale, smooth rounded forms, showing how a single large object can dominate a composition and how small figures can be scaled against it.
