Cleopatra
1524
Medium
engraving on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet: 5.9 × 4.1 cm (2 5/16 × 1 5/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.888
Art Historical Context
Behold the exquisite *Cleopatra*, a 1524 engraving by Bart Beham, one of the renowned "Little Masters" of the German Renaissance. Measuring just 5.9 × 4.1 cm on laid paper, this diminutive print packs intricate detail into a remarkably small format, now housed in the National Gallery of Art's Rosenwald Collection. Beham, active in Nuremberg alongside his brother Hans Sebald and under the shadow of Albrecht Dürer, mastered the art of capturing grandeur in miniature. Engraving, Beham's chosen medium, involved incising designs into a copper plate with a burin, inking it, and pressing it onto pap...
About the Artist
Barthel Beham · 1502–1540
Barthel Beham (1502–1540), a pivotal figure in the German Renaissance, was born in Nuremberg into a family of artists. The younger brother of the renowned engraver Hans Sebald Beham, he honed his craft under the tutelage of his elder sibling and the master Albrecht Dürer, absorbing the precise techniques of engraving and painting that defined Nuremberg's vibrant artistic scene. Emerging as a prodi...