Luna

Art Historical Context

Heinrich Aldegrever's *Luna* (1533) is a delicate engraving capturing the Roman goddess of the moon, person as a serene female figure—fitting the artwork's tag of "Women." Measuring just 3 5/16 × 2 1/16 inches, this tiny print exemplifies the meticulous precision of the Northern Renaissance "Little Masters," group of German artists, including Aldegrever, renowned for small-scale works that rivaled larger paintings in detail and ambition. Created through the labor-intensive engraving technique—incising lines into a metal plate with a burin—Aldegrever's print allowed for multiple impressions, d...

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...