Melancholia
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 1/8 x 2 1/16 in. (7.9 x 5.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1966
Accession Number
66.529.45
Art Historical Context
Sebald Beham's *Melancholia* is a exquisite small-scale engraving from the Northern Renaissance, capturing the introspective mood of its title in intricate detail. Created by one of the "Little Masters"—a group German artists celebrated for their masterful miniatures—Beham (1500–1550) hailed from Nuremberg, a hub of printmaking innovation. This print, measuring just 3 1/8 x 2 1/16 inches, exemplifies the precision required in engraving, where fine lines are incised into a copper plate with a burin, then inked and pressed onto paper for reproduction. The theme of melancholia draws from Renaiss...
About the Artist
Sebald Beham · 1500–1550
Sebald Beham (1500–1550), a pioneering German printmaker and painter born in Nuremberg, emerged as one of the most prolific artists of the Northern Renaissance. The elder brother of fellow artist Barthel Beham, he grew up in a milieu steeped in artistic tradition, though details of his early training remain sparsely documented. Recorded as a journeyman painter (Malergeselle) by 1521 and a master w...