Portret van Philipp Melanchthon

About this artwork

plaatrand: hoogte 171 mm x breedte 126 mm

Art Historical Context

Heinrich Aldegrever's *Portret van Philipp Melthon* (1540) is a finely wrought engraving capturing the likeness of one of the Protestant Reformation's intellectual giants. Aldegrever, a German artist from Soest and member of the "Little Masters"—renowned for their intricate small-scale prints—excelled in detailed portraiture influenced by Albrecht Dürer. Measuring just 171 mm high by 126 mm wide, this intimate plate exemplifies the precision of Renaissance engraving, where every line conveys character and status. Philipp Melanchthon, Luther's close collaborator and a humanist scholar dubbed "...

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...