3/8
Medium
engraving
Dimensions
49; 76
About this artwork
number: ‘102’
Art Historical Context
Heinrich Aldegre's *3/8*, created in 1541, is a delicate engraving measuring just 76 mm high by 49 mm wide—small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. As one of the renowned "Little Masters" of the Northern Renaissance, Aldegrever was German goldsmith and printmaker based in Soest, celebrated for his intricate small-scale works that rivaled the grandeur of larger paintings. This engraving exemplifies the technical virtuosity of 16th-century printmaking, where Aldegrever incised fine lines into a copper plate with a burin, capturing extraordinary detail in a miniature format. Likely part of ...
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...