Naked Child Seen from Back Seated in Front of a Vessel
mid-17th century
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 1 15/16 × 1 7/16 in. (4.9 × 3.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1926
Accession Number
26.105.12
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the intimate world of 17th-century prints, Barthel Beham's *Naked Child Seen from Back Se in Front of a Vessel captivates with its delicate scale—just 1 15/16 × 1 7/16 inches (4.9 × 3.7 cm). This mid-17th-century engraving a nude child viewed from behind, perched innocently before a simple vessel, surrounded by leaves that hint at a playful, naturalistic moment. The tiny format invites close inspection, transforming a museum visit into a personal discovery. As an engraving, the work showcases the medium's precision: Beham incised fine lines into a metal plate, inking and printing to achiev...
About the Artist
Barthel Beham · 1502–1540
Barthel Beham (1502–1540), a pivotal figure in the German Renaissance, was born in Nuremberg into a family of artists. The younger brother of the renowned engraver Hans Sebald Beham, he honed his craft under the tutelage of his elder sibling and the master Albrecht Dürer, absorbing the precise techniques of engraving and painting that defined Nuremberg's vibrant artistic scene. Emerging as a prodi...