Lot Welcomes the Angels, from The Story of Lot
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 1/2 × 3 1/4 in. (11.5 × 8.3 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
41.1.137
Tags
Art Historical Context
Heinrich Aldegrever's *Lot Welcomes the Angels, from The Story of Lot (1555) captures a pivotal biblical moment from Genesis 19, where the righteous Lot hospitably receives two angels sent by God to warn him of Sodom's impending destruction. during the Protestant Reformation in Germany, this engraving reflects the era's fascination with moral tales from scripture, emphasizing themes of divine judgment, hospitality, and human virtue amid corruption. Aldegrever, a master of the "Little Mastersa group of 16th-century German engr known for their intricate small-scale works—infuses the scene with N...
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...