1529
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Dominant colour
Commemoration of the Dead is a 1529 ink by Heinrich Aldegrever, a Northern Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This engraving shows a bare-chested woman standing on a rocky shore. She holds a long sword in one hand and a small object in the other. Behind her, a town burns in the distance, with a ship sinking nearby. Her hair is wild, and she looks serious. The date "1529" is stamped in the corner, marking this as an early Renaissance work. The mix of war and nature might symbolize something bigger—maybe how humans destroy their own world. Want to know more? Try looking up engraving to see how artists carved these details.
Heinrich Aldegrever or Aldegraf was a German painter and engraver. He was one of the "Little Masters", the group of German artists making small old master prints in the generation after Albrecht Dürer.
See the richer artist page
