Faith
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.262
Art Historical Context
Heinrich Aldegrever's *Faith* (1528) is a delicate print from the Northern Renaissance, crafted by one of the "Little Masters"—German engravers celebrated for their masterful work in miniature formats. Born around 1502 in Soest, Aldegrever was a goldsmith-turned-printmaker whose intricate engravings drew inspiration from Albrecht Dürer and the era's religious upheavals, including the Protestant Reformation sparked by Martin Luther a decade earlier. This piece likely personifies the theological virtue of Faith, a common motif in 16th-century art symbolizing steadfast belief amid turbulent times...
About the Artist
Heinrich Aldegrever · 1502–1561
Heinrich Aldegrever, born in 1502 in Paderborn, Westphalia, to parents Herman and Katherine Trippenmeker—a family of clog-makers known by the dialect name Trippenmecker—emerged as a multifaceted artist in the German Renaissance. His early training remains undocumented, though he likely apprenticed in a Soest goldsmith's workshop after relocating there around 1525, where he joined the painters' gui...