The Holy Family under the Canopy

Also known as Virgin & Child in a Tent

Sotheby Parke Bernet label:  861/2

Hans Sebald Beham studied with Albrecht Durer in Nuremberg. Beham created a great body of work in his time, including over 2,000 prints.  He was among the group of German printmakers known as the Little Masters due to the small size of the engravings they produced.

 An exceptional draftsman and printmaker, he was known both for his intricate craft and his portrayal of peasant life.  He produced drawings for glass painters, stained-glass window masters, playing cards, designs for wallpaper and coats of arms, as well as working in large woodcut formats. He designed a prayer book for Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg and also produced the Cardinal’s last surviving painting.

 Beham was banished from Nuremberg in 1525 during a period of high religious angst for stating his disbelief in baptism, transubstantiation and Christ.  Beham was banished again in 1528 for publishing a book thought to be a copy of a Durer manuscript.  He worked in Frankfurt from 1532.