Grammatica, from The Liberal Arts
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 15/16 × 1 15/16 in. (7.4 × 5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Felix M. Warburg and his family, 1941
Accession Number
41.1.186
Tags
Art Historical Context
Georg Pencz, a leading figure among the Nuremberg Little Masters of the Northern Renaissance, crafted *Grammatica, from Liberal Arts* as a engraving that exemplifies the era's fascination with humanist education. Produced in the 16th century amid Germany's vibrant printmaking scene—influenced by Albrecht Dürer—Pencz's series personifies the seven liberal arts foundational disciplines like grammar, rhetoric, and astronomy that shaped Renaissance scholarship. This tiny sheet, measuring just under 3 by 2 inches, captures *Grammatica* (Grammar), the gateway to language and learning, often depicted...
About the Artist
Georg Pencz · 1490–1550
Comment on works: Religious; History; Portraits