Riding Standard Bearer and Foot Soldier
1521
Medium
engraving
Dimensions
plate: 6 × 4.2 cm (2 3/8 × 1 5/8 in.) sheet: 6.2 × 4.4 cm (2 7/16 × 1 3/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.873
Art Historical Context
**Riding Standard Bearer and Foot Soldier** (1521) is exquisite engraving by Barthel Be, a leading figure among the German "Little Masters of the Northern Renaissance. This tiny plate, measuring just 6 × 4.2 cm, captures a mounted standard bearer and a foot soldier in dynamic poses, likely evoking the military life of early 16th-century Europe. Beham, from Nuremberg, was renowned for his secular genre scenes and precise craftsmanship, often depicting everyday soldiers or peasants with remarkable detail. Engraving as a medium allowed Beham to achieve intricate lines and textures on copper plat...
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...