Leda with the Swan and Hercules as a Child, from The Labors of Hercules
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 3/16 × 2 5/8 in. (10.7 × 6.7 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
41.1.111
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the intricate engraving *Leda with the Swan Hercules as a Child, The Labors of Hercules (1550), German artist Heinrich Aldegre captures a mythological moment blending classical tales of divine seduction and heroism. Aldegrever, a leading figure among the "Little Masters" the Northern Renaissance, depicts the swan—Zeus in disguise—entwined with the beautiful Leda, while the infant Hercules appears nearby, evoking legends of godly parentage and future labors. This tiny sheet, measuring just 4 3/16 × 2 5/8 inches, exemplifies the precision of 16th-century engraving, where fine lines etched int...
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...