Standard Bearer and Drummer
1544
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 13/16 x 1 15/16 in. (7.1 x 4.9 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Felix M. Warburg and his family, 1941
Accession Number
41.1.90
Tags
Art Historical Context
Sebald Beham’s 1544 engraving “Standard Bearer and Drummer” captures two male figures in period military dress, one grasping a tall standard and the other carrying a drum, both equipped with swords. Measuring just under three inches tall, the tiny print exemplifies the intimate scale favored by sixteenth-century German printmakers. Beham, active in Nuremberg during the Northern Renaissance, specialized in such compact engravings that rewarded close looking with crisp lines and lively detail. Created amid the religious and political upheavals of Reformation-era Europe, the image likely reflect...
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...