Little Masters
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The Little Masters ("Kleinmeister" in German), were a group of German
printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed technique ...
s who worked in the first half of the 16th century, primarily in
engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...
. They specialized in very small finely detailed prints, some no larger than a postage stamp. The leading members were Hans Sebald Beham, his brother Barthel, and George Pencz, all from
Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
, and Heinrich Aldegrever and
Albrecht Altdorfer Albrecht Altdorfer ( – 12 February 1538) was a German painter, engraver and architect of the Renaissance working in Regensburg, Bavaria. Along with Lucas Cranach the Elder and Wolf Huber he is regarded to be the main representative of the Da ...
. Many of the Little Masters' subjects were mythological or
Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...
stories, often treated erotically, or
genre scenes Genre art is the pictorial representation in any of various media of scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, work, and street scenes. Such representations (also called genre works, ...
of peasant life. The size and subject matter of the prints shows that they were designed for a market of collectors who would keep them in albums, of which a number have survived. The term ''Kleinmeister'' was used of the Nuremberg Little Masters as early as 1679, by Joachim von Sandrart, and has been applied to other groups of artists, from the genre masters of the
Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands which roughly lasted from 1588, when the Dutch Republic was established, to 1672, when the '' Rampjaar'' occurred. During this period, Dutch trade, scientific development ...
to a group of 6th-century BC Ancient Greek vase-painters.


Artists

The earliest artist to make very small intricate engravings was Altdorfer in 1506–7, probably following the example of Italian
niello Niello is a black mixture, usually of sulphur, copper, silver, and lead, used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal, especially silver. It is added as a powder or paste, then fired until it melts or at least softens, and flows or is push ...
prints, although their size was in fact no smaller than the bottom end of the very cheap devotional woodcuts made throughout the 15th century. However Altdorfer's printmaking developed in different directions, though he continued to produce some small engravings until the 1520s, by which time the style had been taken up by the Nuremberg artists, the Beham brothers and their close friend Pencz. Hans Sebald Beham and Pencz continued to produce engravings until shortly before their deaths in 1550, which effectively ended the style; Barthel Beham had died in 1540. Barthel is generally considered the most inventive of the Nuremberg trio, but his brother Sebald was much more productive, with perhaps the finest technique, and also copied some of Barthel's prints after his death. Aldegrever was a convinced
Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
who developed
Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...
leanings, which perhaps led to him spending much of his time producing ornament prints with no human figures. Their engraving style was based on the work of
Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
master printmaker
Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...
, who was still living in the city until 1528, and in whose workshop Pencz at least may have trained, and the Italian Marcantonio Raimondi, with whom Barthel Beham is supposed to have worked in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
. Raimondi, and the exterior
fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...
friezes of Polidoro di Caravaggio, influenced their choice of subjects and compositional style, to which Northern themes of death (Death appears personified in many prints, as above) and humour are added. The prints of Hans Baldung Grien contain similar treatments of sexual themes. Compared to their contemporaries, devotional subjects are notably absent in the work of the Nuremberg artists, who were all expelled from the city for their religious views in 1525 – an episode that still remains rather unclear. Their prints were very widely disseminated, and both drawn copies and examples of the originals have been found in albums from Mughal India, and their figurative compositions were copied in
Limoges Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...
enamel and various other decorative media, from bronze plaques to stoneware pottery. In addition many of their prints were "ornament prints", consisting entirely of ornament in the Renaissance style, which as well as being collected were designed to be used as patterns for craftsmen in various media. Minor members of the group were Jacob Binck and Hans Brosamer, and there are some prints by a "Master IB", named after his
monogram A monogram is a motif (visual arts), motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbo ...
, who may be either Pencz, Sebald Beham, or a separate artist. Other artists who did some work on a similar small scale, but are not usually classified as part of the "Little Masters" group, include: Virgil Solis, Matthias Zundt,
Jost Amman Jost Amman (June 13, 1539 – March 17, 1591) was a Old Swiss Confederacy, Swiss-German artist, celebrated chiefly for his woodcuts, done mainly for book illustrations. Early life Amman was born in Zürich, the son of a professor of Cl ...
, and Conrad Saldörfer in Germany,
Hans Holbein the Younger Hans Holbein the Younger ( , ; ;  – between 7 October and 29 November 1543) was a German-Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He ...
in Switzerland and England, and Dirk Vellert (in
etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...
) and "Master S" in the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
.Landau & Parshall, pp. 332 and 356 The etched work of the Hopfer family is often similar in size and must have appealed to a similar market, as did the rather later work of the French printmaker Etienne Delaune. File:Hercules and a Muse MET DP833094.jpg,
Albrecht Altdorfer Albrecht Altdorfer ( – 12 February 1538) was a German painter, engraver and architect of the Renaissance working in Regensburg, Bavaria. Along with Lucas Cranach the Elder and Wolf Huber he is regarded to be the main representative of the Da ...
, ''Hercules and a Muse'', 7.8 × 4.5 cm. File:Genius on a Globe Floating in the Air MET DP828644.jpg, Barthel Beham, ''Genius on a Globe Floating in the Air'', engraving, 1520, 5.7 × 3.6 cm, perhaps a parody of Dürer's ''Nemesis''. File:Wrath (Ira), from The Seven Vices MET DP867538.jpg,
Georg Pencz Georg Pencz (c. 1500 – 11 October 1550) was a German Engraving, engraver, Painting, painter and Printmaking, printmaker. Pencz was probably born in Westheim near Bad Windsheim/Franconia. He travelled to Nuremberg in 1523 and joined Albrecht ...
, ''Wrath'' (Ira), from a set of The Seven Vices, 8.4 × 5.4 cm File:Dancing Couple Stepping to the Left, from The Small Wedding Dancers MET DP836718.jpg, Heinrich Aldegrever, Dancing Couple from ''The Small Wedding Dancers'' set, 5.3 × 3.8 cm File:Hans brosamer, fillide e aristotele, 1545 ca.jpg, Hans Brosamer, '' Phyllis and Aristotle'', c. 1545


Notes


References

* Bartrum, Giulia; ''German Renaissance Prints, 1490–1550''; British Museum Press, 1995, * Arthur M. Hind;
A History of Engraving and Etching
', Houghton Mifflin Co. 1923 (in USA), reprinted Dover Publications, 1963, * A. Hyatt Mayor, ''Prints and People'', Metropolitan Museum of Art/Princeton, 1971, * David Landau & Peter Parshall, ''The Renaissance Print'', Yale, 1996, * H. Diane Russell, ''Eva/Ave; Women in Renaissance and Baroque Prints'', National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1990,


Further reading

*Goddard, Stephen H. (ed); ''The World in Miniature: Engravings by the German Little Masters, 1500-1550'', 1988, Spencer Museum of Art University of Kansas, *Möseneder, Karl (ed); ''Zwischen Dürer und Raffael. Graphikserien Nürnberger Kleinmeister'', Petersberg 2010, *Martin Knauer, ''Dürers unfolgsame Erben. Bildstrategien in den Kupferstichen der deutschen Kleinmeister'', Petersberg 2013


External links


Wake Forest University Print Collection article''A Small World'', dealer's exhibition of 44 prints
{{Authority control German printmakers German art movements