Panel with Grotesque Candelabrum Containing a Mask, a Couple of Tritons and Two Children
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 11/16 × 2 in. (6.8 × 5.1 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1923
Accession Number
22.41.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the Renaissance era, German engraver Heinrich Aldegrever crafted this exquisite *Panel with Grotesque Candelabrum Containing a Mask, a Couple of Tritons and Children* in 154. A master of the "Little Mastersprintmakers renowned for their small-scale works—Aldegrever specialized in ornamental designs that blended Northern precision with Italian Renaissance influences. This engraving, measuring just 2 11/16 × 2 inches, exemplifies his technical virtuosity, using fine burin lines to capture every swirling tendril and fanciful detail on a tiny sheet. The composition bursts with grotesque motifs...
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...