Coat of Arms with a Rampant Lion
Medium
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Sheet, trimmed to image: 6.9 × 5.9 cm (2 3/4 × 2 3/8 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
77473
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Originally from Nuremberg, Beham produced numerous small-scale engravings, including the two heraldic subjects seen here (1919.2290 and .2291). He transcribed these circular images onto dark hexagons, with his signature and the date below. Beham made both in 1544, long after he settled in Frankfurt, having been driven from his hometown for religious reasons.
About the Artist
Hans Sebald Beham · 1500–1550
Sebald Beham (1500-1550), often called Hans Sebald Beham, was a German painter and printmaker born in Nuremberg. He stands as the most important figure among the Kleinmeister (Little Masters), a group of German artists who created remarkably detailed prints on a diminutive scale in the generation following Albrecht Dürer. Beham's significance lies in his technical virtuosity and unprecedented pro...