The Little Masters ("Kleinmeister" in German ), were a group of German printmakers who worked in the first half of the 16th century, primarily in engraving . 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 , and Heinrich Aldegrever and Albrecht Altdorfer . Many of the Little Masters' subjects were mythological or Old Testament stories, often treated erotically, or genre scenes 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.
18-577: 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 to a group of 6th-century BC Ancient Greek vase-painters . The earliest artist to make very small intricate engravings was Altdorfer in 1506–7, probably following the example of Italian niello prints, although their size
36-472: A manuscript and attacks Sandrart for having copied the mistake without proper research in a later work of his. Teutsche Academie The German Academy of the Noble Arts of Architecture, Sculpture and Painting , or Teutsche Academie , refers to a comprehensive dictionary of art by Joachim von Sandrart published in the late 17th century. The first version was published in 1675 and it included
54-630: A painter of genre works , and portraits. He won a very good following as a painter, winning a lucrative commission for a large commemorative piece for the state visit by Maria of Medici in 1638, which hangs in the Rijksmuseum . This piece was commissioned by the Bicker Company of the Amsterdam schutterij , and shows the members posing around a bust of Maria of Medici, with a poem by Joost van den Vondel hanging below it. The state visit
72-403: A passage on a ship from London to Venice , where he was welcomed by Jan Lis (whose Bentvueghels bent name was "Pan"), and Nicolas Régnier . He then set out for Bologna , where he was met by his uncle on his mother's side Michael le Blond , a celebrated engraver. With him, he crossed the mountains to Florence , and from there on to Rome , where they met Pieter van Laer (whose bent name
90-441: A visit to Honthorst in 1627, to recruit him for collaboration on part of his Marie de' Medici cycle . Honthorst took Sandrart along with him when he travelled to London . There he worked with Honthorst and spent time making copies of Holbein portraits for the portrait gallery of Henry Howard, 22nd Earl of Arundel . Making all of those copies only served to arouse more curiosity in the young adventurer, and in 1627 Sandrart booked
108-620: Is best known as an author of books on art, some of them in Latin , and especially for his historical work, the Teutsche Academie der edlen Bau-, Bild- und Mahlerey-Künste , published between 1675 and 1680, and in more recent editions. This work is an educational compilation of short biographies of artists, as "a printed supplement to or surrogate for an academic course," inspired by Karel van Mander 's similar Schilder-boeck . Both Sandrart and van Mander based their Italian sections on
126-849: The "Little Masters" group, include: Virgil Solis , Matthias Zundt , Jost Amman , and Conrad Saldörfer in Germany, Hans Holbein the Younger in Switzerland and England, and Dirk Vellert (in etching ) and "Master S" in the Netherlands . 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 . Joachim von Sandrart Joachim von Sandrart (12 May 1606 – 14 October 1688)
144-487: 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 , 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
162-615: The old homestead, it was burned by the French. He sold it and moved to Augsburg , where he painted for the family of Maximilian I , the Elector of Bavaria. When his wife died in 1672, Sandrart moved to Nuremberg , where he married Hester Barbara Bloemaart, the daughter of a magistrate there. This is where he started writing. His large 1649 painting Peace-Banquet commemorating the Peace of Münster , now hangs in Nuremberg's town hall. He
180-489: The son of Theodor de Bry , Johann Theodoor de Brie and his associate Matthäus Merian , but at age 15 was so eager to learn more of the art of engraving, that he walked from Frankfurt to Prague to become a pupil of Aegidius Sadeler of the Sadeler family . Sadeler in turn urged him to paint, whereupon he travelled to Utrecht in 1625 to become a pupil of Gerrit van Honthorst , and through him he met Rubens when he brought
198-460: 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 who developed Anabaptist leanings, which perhaps led to him spending much of his time producing ornament prints with no human figures. Their engraving style
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#1732772117804216-520: The work of Giorgio Vasari . His work in turn became one of the primary sources for Arnold Houbraken 's Schouburg , who wrote a little poem about him: Wat arbeid, moeite, en yver, En nazoek dat een Schryver Steets doen moet, weet niemant; Als die 't zelf neemt ter hand. Sandrart copied a mistake in Cornelis de Bie 's Het Gulden Cabinet on Hendrick ter Brugghen whom De Bie has erroneously called "Verbrugghen". De Bie corrects this mistake in
234-590: 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 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
252-639: Was "Bamboccio"). After a few years he undertook a tour of Italy, traveling to Naples , where he drew studies of Mount Vesuvius , believed to be the entrance to the Elysian fields described by Virgil . From there he traveled to Malta and beyond, searching for literary sights to see and paint, and wherever he went he paid his way by selling portraits. Only when he was done traveling did he finally return to Frankfurt, where he married Johanna de Milkau in 1637. Afraid of political unrest and plague, he moved to Amsterdam with his wife in 1637. In Amsterdam he worked as
270-617: Was a German Baroque art-historian and painter , active in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age . He is most significant for his collection of biographies of Dutch and German artists the Teutsche Academie , published between 1675 and 1680. Sandrart was born in Frankfurt am Main , but the family originated from Mons . According to his dictionary of art called the Teutsche Academie , he learned to read and write from
288-708: Was a big deal for Amsterdam, as it meant the first formal recognition of the Dutch Republic of the seven provinces by France . However, Maria herself was fleeing Richelieu at the time and never returned to France. This piece cemented his reputation as a leading painter, and in 1645 Sandrart decided to cash in and go home when he received an inheritance in Stockau, outside Ingolstadt , he sold his things and moved there. He received 3000 guilders for 2 books of his Italian drawings, that according to Houbraken were resold in his lifetime for 4555 guilders. Though he rebuilt
306-811: Was based on the work of Nuremberg master printmaker Albrecht Dürer , 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 . Raimondi, and the exterior fresco 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
324-552: 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
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