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Hans Sebald Beham
Two Fools (or Fool and Foolish Woman)

1540

$850
£643.08
€742.22
CA$1,187.21
A$1,319.95
CHF 690.92
MX$16,188.81
NOK 8,797.12
SEK 8,305.52
DKK 5,538.67
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About the Item

Hans Sebald Beham (1500-1550), an engraving after Beham’s Two Fools (or Fool and Foolish Woman), engraving, c 1540, a copy or impression in reverse of Pauli 215, Bartsch 213, the copy after the first state. In excellent condition, trimmed on or just outside or inside the plate mark, on old laid paper, numerous notes in pencil verso, 1 15/16 x 2 1/16 inches. A brilliant impression of this famous image, after the Beham composition. The subject matter for this print was addressed by numerous artists in the 15th and 16th centuries. In this rendering the allusions refer to the folly of love. For example, the man holds what was known as the “fool’s stick”, an instrument with obvious phallic references. The woman rests her hand on a vessel, a reference to female sexuality. The man holds a flagon of wine – wine drinking was at the time a metaphor for love-making. Many prints of the time show flies or dragonflies flying around a lover’s head in association with love; here three dragon flies circle the man, but another is aiming toward the woman.

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Hans Sebald Beham (1500-1550), Virgin and Child with the Pear, engraving, 1520. Initials monogram and date in the plate. References: Bartsch 18, Pauli, Hollstein 19. First state (of two). In good condition, on old laid paper with thread margins on three sides, trimmed on the platemark bottom right and bottom, and archival mounting. h: 4.5 x w: 3 in / h: 11.4 x w: 7.6 cm A very good impression of this rarity. Hollstein indicates that earlier impressions, such as this one, do not have a scratch above the head of the Virgin. Beham was one of the Northern Renaissance Little Masters, so called because of their eminence in producing small-scale engravings such as the Virgin and Child with a Pear. Beham was born in Nuremberg in 1500, and may have trained under Durer, though his training is no more certain than that of his younger brother Barthel. He made his first engraving in 1518, and later became known for producing woodcuts as well. Beham’s Madonna with the Pear has a similar composition but in reverse to Durer’s engraving...
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