Woman with a Harp
1520/25
Medium
Etching in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image/plate: 4 × 3.3 cm (1 5/8 × 1 5/16 in.); Sheet: 4.8 × 4.2 cm (1 15/16 × 1 11/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
24913
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Who is this female harpist, sitting solemnly in a wooded landscape? Is she a muse? A goddess? Just an ordinary woman? The viewer is left to speculate, as there are not enough clues to know for certain. Hans Sebald Beham, one of the so-called German Little Masters, produced prints such as this one that create a sense of intimacy through their small scale and the proximity of their subjects to the picture plane. This etching is even smaller than many of his prints, obliging viewers to come close t...
About the Artist
Hans Sebald Beham · 1500–1550
Sebald Beham (1500-1550), often called Hans Sebald Beham, was a German painter and printmaker born in Nuremberg. He stands as the most important figure among the Kleinmeister (Little Masters), a group of German artists who created remarkably detailed prints on a diminutive scale in the generation following Albrecht Dürer. Beham's significance lies in his technical virtuosity and unprecedented pro...