Frieze with Tendrils Growing from a Plant at Right and a Satyr Holding a Shield with the Artist's Monogram
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 1 7/16 × 6 9/16 in. (3.7 × 16.7 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1924
Accession Number
23.101.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the bustling workshops of 16th-century Germany, Heinrich Aldegrever crafted this delicate *Frieze with Tendrils Growing a Plant at Right and Satyr Holding a Shield the Artist's Monogram in 1532. A master engraver and goldsmith fromest, Aldegrever was part of the "Little Masters," renowned for their virtuosic small-scale prints that packed Renaissance detail into tiny formats. This engraving, measuring just 7/16 ×6 9/16 inches exemplifies the Northern Renaissance fusion of intricate line work and ornamental fantasy, ideal for inspiring architects, silversmiths, and decorators. The composit...
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...