The Year's End from "The Peasants' Feast" or "The Twelve Months"
1546
Medium
Engraving; second state of two (Pauli)
Dimensions
sheet: 1 15/16 x 2 13/16 in. (5 x 7.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Harry G. Friedman, 1962
Accession Number
62.635.92
Tags
Art Historical Context
Sebald Beham, a masterful German engraver of the Renaissance known as one of the "Little Masters" for his exquisite small-scale works, created *The Year's End* in1546. This enchanting engraving is the final print in his series "The Peasants Feast" or "The Months," a cycle vividly capturing rural life through the seasonal cycle. Measuring just 1 15/16 x 2 13/16 inches, its diminutive size belies the intricate detail achieved through the intaglio process, where Beham incised fine lines into a copper plate to produce rich, tonal depth upon printing. In this second state of two (as cataloged by P...
About the Artist
Sebald Beham · 1500–1550
Sebald Beham (1500–1550), a pioneering German printmaker and painter born in Nuremberg, emerged as one of the most prolific artists of the Northern Renaissance. The elder brother of fellow artist Barthel Beham, he grew up in a milieu steeped in artistic tradition, though details of his early training remain sparsely documented. Recorded as a journeyman painter (Malergeselle) by 1521 and a master w...