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Overview
Heinrich Aldegrever was one of the so-called 'Little Masters', a group of German artists making small prints in the generation after Albrecht Dürer, who included Hans Baldung Grien, the Beham brothers and Georg Pencz. The close resemblance of his work to that of Dürer led to Aldegrever being called the 'Albert of Westphalia', although his style went on to depart from his mentor's intricate line work to stress the optical effects of light and shadow. He became a Lutheran convert in 1531, but continued to depict religious themes, while his ornamental engravings were used as models by artists and craftsmen well into the 17th century. His images of virtues and vices were so popular that Aldegrever made cycles of both in 1549 (not yet represented in the collection) and, here, 1552. Te Papa owns the complete cycle, all acquired in 1978. These complement several Aldegrever prints in the foundation art collection, presented to the Colonial Museum, forerunner of Te Papa, by Bishop Ditlev Monrad in 1869.
The virtue of humility in Christian moral teaching was beautifully summarised by C. S. Lewis when he said 'Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less'. It is the opposite of pride, traditionally the prime vice, and depicted as such by Aldegrever (1978-006-5/1) to make a contrasting pair. Formally, Modesty bears remarkable reference to the accompanying virtue of Chastity (1978-0006-4/ 4).
The female personification of Modesty or Humility (Humilis) holds a bannered lance on which the tiny figure emerges from his tomb, wearing the Crown of Thorns and holding a flagellant's whip and a swish. This refers to Christ's Passion, particularly his flagellation, and his humility in surrendering to divine will in suffering and dying. A lamb, the traditional symbols of meekness, stands near her feet, and a heraldic shield (displaying the Archangel Michael, slaying 'the dragon of arrogance', and topped with what is either a pigeon or a falcon) is in the top left corner. The setting of a landscape with ruins suggests a modish reference to antiquity, but also perhaps the artist is saying these virtues and vices have existed since time immemorial.
The Latin inscription can be translated as: 'Hearts that almost burst with fatal arrogance, enter a humble state only with their feet in the dust'.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Aldegrever
Dr Mark Stocker, Curator Historical International Art December 2016