Absalom doodt Amnon
Medium
engraving
Dimensions
120; 77
About this artwork
plaatrand: hoogte 120 mm x breedte 77 mm
Art Historical Context
Behold Heinrich Aldegrever's intricate engraving *Absalom doodt Amnon* (Absalom Kills Amnon), created in 1540. This small yet powerful work (120 mm × 77 mm) captures a dramatic biblical moment from 2 Samuel 13, Absalom avenges his sister Tamar by slaying his brother Amnon at a feast. Aldegrever, a masterful German engraver from the Renaissance and part of the esteemed "Little Masters" group, specialized in such compact prints that rivaled paintings in detail and emotion. Rendered on a copper plate using fine burin lines, the engraving exemplifies the technical precision of 16th-century intagl...
About the Artist
Heinrich Aldegrever · 1502–1561
Heinrich Aldegrever, born in 1502 in Paderborn, Westphalia, to parents Herman and Katherine Trippenmeker—a family of clog-makers known by the dialect name Trippenmecker—emerged as a multifaceted artist in the German Renaissance. His early training remains undocumented, though he likely apprenticed in a Soest goldsmith's workshop after relocating there around 1525, where he joined the painters' gui...