item details
Overview
Sebald Beham (popularly called Hans Sebald Beham) (1500-1550) was a prolific early Renaissance German printmaker. Born in Nuremberg and therefore a fellow citizen of Albrecht Dürer, he spent the second half of his career in Frankfurt. He was one of the most important of the so-called 'Little Masters' (Henrich Aldegrever was another), the group of German printmakers initially inspired by Dürer, who continued to flourish into the mid-16th century. The intimate scale of their works, rather than these impressive artists being overshadowed by the brilliant Dürer, explains their name.
Beham produced approximately 252 engravings, 18 etchings and 1500 woodcuts, including woodcut book illustrations. He worked extensively on tiny, highly detailed, engravings, many as small as postage stamps, which he printed and published himself, while his much larger woodcuts were mostly commissioned work. The engravings found a ready market among German collectors. He also made prints for use as playing cards and wallpaper. His engravings cover a range of subjects, but he is especially known for scenes of peasant life and scenes from classical myths or history, both often with an erotic element.
This tiny engraving is one of a pair. The banderole inscription translates as 'It's cold weather', or more idiomatically 'It's damn cold', the exclamation of this pitchfork-wielding peasant as he gazes heavenwards. The matching inscription in the other print translates as 'No it's not'. The two peasants somewhat comically face one another. Their expressions suggest blank stupidity, or more charitably, stoicism. Almost a century later, Rembrandt, an avid print collector and very likely an admirer of Beham, produced a closely related matching pair of shabbier peasants or beggars, this time turning their backs on one another. The inscriptions, in Dutch rather than German, say the same thing: Peasant calling out: ‘tis vinnich kout’ (it’s biting/damned cold) and A peasant, replying: ‘dats niet’ (it's not), both 1634. Their expressions are considerably more animated, however, with the latter figure facing the spectator and miserably denying the truth.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebald_Beham
Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art January 2017