“Stop to appreciate the mesmerizing complexity of "The Fifth Knot." This woodcut's repeating pattern and stark contrast create a powerful visual puzzle, inviting you to trace its intricate design.”
This woodcut, known as "The Fifth Knot," presents an intricate, almost hypnotic pattern that draws the eye into its repeating, interconnected loops. The design, rendered in stark black lines on ivory laid paper, emphasizes the tactile quality of the woodcut medium itself. Each line, created by the careful removal of wood, contributes to a sense of both delicate precision and robust form. The composition feels like a puzzle or an ancient symbol, inviting contemplation on its structure and implied infinity. It’s a testament to the enduring appeal of pure form and the expressive potential of a single color.
- Artist
- Saks Fifth Avenue
- Date
- 1507
- Medium
- Woodcut in black on ivory laid paper
- Location
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Dimensions
- Image: 27.2 × 21.2 cm (10 3/4 × 8 3/8 in.); Sheet: 28.7 × 22.8 cm (11 5/16 × 9 in.)
What to Notice
Four details hide in plain sight. Here’s where to look.

Observe the precise, interlocking nature of each knot.
Notice the texture of the ivory laid paper beneath the ink.
See how the black lines create depth and shadow.
Follow a single line to see how it intertwines through the pattern.
Saks Fifth Avenue
From a Washington D.C. men's shop in 1867 to a Fifth Avenue icon, Saks dressed America's elite for over 150 years.
Further Works by Avenue
More works to explore
Beyond Avenue: works from the same years.
Same era · 1490s–1520s
Saint Christopher
Hieronymus Bosch · 1508 · Noordbrabants Museum
Same era · 1490s–1520s
Drunkenness of Noah
Michelangelo · 1509 · Sistine Chapel
Same era · 1490s–1520s
Jacopo Pesaro, Bishop of Paphos, being presented by Pope Alexander VI to Saint Peter
Titian · 1504 · Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp
Same era · 1490s–1520s
Mona Lisa
Leonardo da Vinci · 1503 · Department of Paintings of the Louvre
Same era · 1490s–1520s
Saint Jerome in His Study
Albrecht Dürer · 1521 · National Museum of Ancient Art
Same era · 1490s–1520s
Sistine Madonna (Madonna di San Sisto)
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino) · 1512
Same era · 1490s–1520s
Plate with arms of the Tosinghi family
Artist Unknown - The Mercat Cross, Aberdeen · 1495 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1490s–1520s
Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints John the Baptist and Sebastian
Pietro Perugino · 1493 · Uffizi Gallery
Same era · 1490s–1520s
Annunciation of the Death of of the Virgin
Master of the View of Saint Gudula · 1495 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art

