Hans Sebald Beham

The flag bearer and the drummer, 1544 Engraving Measurements: 70 x 49 mm German painter and engraver. After an initial period in Nuremberg, he moved permanently to Frankfurt. He is remembered as one of the most important exponents of the so-called Little Masters, the group of German artists who produced small-format engravings following the example of Albrecht Dürer (Nuremberg, May 21, 1471 – Nuremberg, April 6, 1528). The artist engraved approximately two hundred and fifty burins, eighteen etchings, and fifteen hundred woodcuts. Until 1532, he signed his works with the monogram HSP, later preferring HSB. His graphic works address various themes including scenes of peasant life, mythological, religious, or historical scenes. The sheet depicts two full-figure characters. In the foreground, captured slightly in left profile, we find a standard-bearer, wearing a sort of armor, a sword at his waist, and in his right hand he holds the staff of a richly draped flag. Beside him, captured frontally, a man with a wearier face is intent on playing a drum. The two are identified by the inscriptions engraved near their heads, respectively KLOS WUCZER and ACKER CONCZ, and vertically, at the bottom right, there is the inscription IM BAUREN KRIEG/ 1525, a reference to the Bauernkrieg, the great German peasant revolt that the mercenaries repressed in 1525. The engraving is a tribute from the author to the sacrifice of the peasants. The plate bears the author's monogram and the date 1544 at the bottom right. Specimen in the II/II state with the horizontal fold of the flag reaching the right shoulder of the flag bearer. Excellent fresh impression, trimmed along the outline. A small stain in the center and a thinning of the paper visible on the back. Bibliography: Bartsch VIII.198.199; Hollstein 202