The Little Masters ("Kleinmeister" in German), were a group of German printmakers who worked in the first half of the 16th century, primarily in engraving. They specialized in very small finely detailed prints, some no larger than a postage stamp. The leading members were Hans Sebald Beham, his brother Barthel, and George Pencz, all from Nuremberg, and Heinrich Aldegrever and Albrecht Altdorfer.[1] Many of the Little Masters' subjects were mythological or Old Testament stories, often treated erotically, or genre scenes of peasant life.[2] The size and subject matter of the prints shows that they were designed for a market of collectors who would keep them in albums, of which a number have survived.
The term Kleinmeister was used of the Nuremberg Little Masters as early as 1679, by Joachim von Sandrart, and has been applied to other groups of artists, from the genre masters of the Dutch Golden Age to a group of 6th-century BC Ancient Greek vase-painters.
- ^ Antony Griffiths, Prints and Printmaking, p. 46, British Museum Press (in UK), 2nd edn, 1996 ISBN 0-7141-2608-X
- ^ Mayor, p. 315, and Russell, p. 11 and passim throughout