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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, in 1869 by Bishop Ditlev Monrad.
The Christian virtue of Patience, personified in Aldegrever's engraving, possesses the following characteristics:
*Forbearance that comes from moderation; enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity.
*Building a sense of peaceful stability and harmony rather than conflict, hostility, and antagonism; resolving issues and arguments respectfully, as opposed to resorting to anger and fighting.
*Showing forgiveness and being merciful to criminals and sinners.
Patience is the opposite of Wrath, which Aldegrever depicts in his cycle of engravings of the Seven Vices (1978-0006-5/ 3).
Patience leads the repentant sinner back on the right path, emphasised by the setting on high ground, close to the coast, with a town depicted distantly to the right. Immediately in front of the flag is a fluttering dove, which from early Christian times has famously symbolised peace. The dog on the escutcheon is possibly a symbol of vigilance, while the parrot-like bird perched on it probably denotes wisdom.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Aldegrever
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_virtues
Dr Mark Stocker, Curator Historical International Art December 2016