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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.
Diligence, in Christianity, is the effort to do one's part, while keeping faith and reliance in God. In other words, diligence and faith are two sides of a mystery. One doesn’t know how, despite one's effort, it all works out. But diligence when combined with faith assures spiritual success. Diligence as one of seven virtues describes thoroughness, completeness and persistence of an action, particularly in matters of faith. Its opposite is Idleness, which Aldegrever depicted in his complementary cycle of the Vices (1978-0006-5/7).
The female personification of Diligence (Gaudia) holds a standard which bears a crane who in turn holds a stone in its second claw, possibly symbolising perpetual vigilance. The escutcheon at upper right features a squirrel, whose storage of nuts is a more obvious symbol of this virtue. The setting, of ruined buildings, possibly denotes modish antiquity, but also suggests that both virtues and vices have existed for time immemorial.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Aldegrever
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_virtues
Dr Mark Stocker, Curator Historical International Art December 2016