Onmatigheid
Medium
engraving
Dimensions
82; 63
About this artwork
number: ‘61’
Art Historical Context
**Onmatigheid** (Immoderance), a delicate engraving by Heinrich Aldegrever from 1528, invites visitors into the intricate world of Northern Renaissance printmaking. Measuring just 82 mm high by 63 mm wide and cataloged as number '61,' this small-scale work exemplifies Aldegrever's mastery a German goldsmith-turned-engraver from Soest. Active during the early Reformation era, he belonged to the "Little Masters artists celebrated for their virtuoso engravings that rivaled paintings in detail despite their modest size. The title *Onmatigheid*—Dutch for "immoderance" or intemperance—likely depict...
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...