Buffoon and the Two Bathing Women
1541
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 1 13/16 x 2 13/16 in. (4.6 x 7.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Grace M. Pugh, 1985
Accession Number
1986.1180.30
Art Historical Context
Step into the playful yet intricate world of Sebald Be's *Buffoon and the Two Bath Women* (1541), a delicate engraving from the Northern Renaissance. Beham, a Nuremberg-based master known as one of the "Little" for his exquisitely detailed small-scale prints, captures a humorous genre scene: a buffoonish figure interrupting two women at their bath. This tiny work—measuring just 1 /16 x 2 13/16 inches—showcases the era's fascination with everyday life, satire, and the human form during the Reformation period in Germany. Engraving, Beham's specialty, allowed for precise lines etched into copper...
About the Artist
Sebald Beham · 1500–1550
Sebald Beham (1500–1550), a pioneering German printmaker and painter born in Nuremberg, emerged as one of the most prolific artists of the Northern Renaissance. The elder brother of fellow artist Barthel Beham, he grew up in a milieu steeped in artistic tradition, though details of his early training remain sparsely documented. Recorded as a journeyman painter (Malergeselle) by 1521 and a master w...