Beham, Sebald

Sebald Beham (1500–1550) was a German painter and printmaker, mainly known for his very small engravings. Born in Nuremberg, he spent the later part of his career in Frankfurt. He was one of the most important of the "Little Masters", the group of German artists making prints in the generation after Dürer. His name is often given as Hans Sebald Beham although there is no documentary evidence that he ever used that additional forename. He 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, placing him in the German printmaking school known as the "Little Masters" from the size of their prints. Those works were printed and published by him, and his much larger woodcuts were mostly commissioned work. The engravings found a ready market among German bourgeois 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 myth or history, both of which often had an erotic element. His early work was done under the...