Self Portrait

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Self Portrait

Artist Heinrich Aldegrever (German, 1502-ca.1561)

Date1537

DimensionsH. 7 3/4 in. (19.8 cm): W. 5 in. (12.8 cm)

MediumEngraving

ClassificationPrints

Credit LineFrederick B. and Kate L. Shoemaker Fund

Object number

1945.2

Not on View

Label TextHeinrich Aldegrever was born in northwest Germany and was active in the town of Soest, about 250 miles northwest of Nuremberg. He specialized in ornamental designs, mythology, and religious imagery and is primarily known today for his very small format engravings. Consequently, his work is often shown in exhibitions with the Kleinmeister (Little Masters) of Nuremberg: Georg Pencz and the brothers Barthel and Hans Sebald Beham. However, there is no evidence that Aldegrever had any direct contact with these artists or with Albrecht Dürer, the preeminent German painter/engraver of the day. By the time of Aldegrever’s first dated engravings (1527), the works of Dürer and the Beham brothers were known and admired throughout Europe. There is no doubt that Aldegrever’s early works were directly influenced by the earlier artists. He produced approximately 300 engravings and was known also as a painter and metalsmith. The Latin inscription on the print states Beham’s name, his place of birth, and that the image was “drawn from life” when the artist was 35 years of age.Published ReferencesToledo Museum of Art Museum News, New Series, Vol.5, No. 2, Summer 1962, repr. p.32Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, Prints as Portraits, December 1959 - February 1960.

Toledo Museum of Art, Storytelling in Miniature, October 7, 2011-March 4, 2012.