Hans Sebald Beham

Georg Pencz and Hans Sebald Beham worked in Reformation Nuremberg during and after Albrecht Dürer’s life. Called the “Little Masters” for the predominately small format of their prints, these engravers were direct technical successors of Dürer. However, Italian engravings would have been readily available for study by the 1540s and thus their works can be placed in the context of Marcantonio Raimondi’s influence as well. The copious dot-work found on the figures and the passages of parallel lines that define the form of legs and arms may in fact owe more to Italian models than to Dürer.

Beham represented four narrative moments explicitly mentioned in the biblical text of the Prodigal Son: the Prodigal bids farewell to his father, squanders his inheritance, stands destitute among the swine, and returns to his father where he acknowledges his sins and is forgiven. The Prodigal Son was a frequent subject in Reformation art because it served to instruct about God’s grace and the importance of faith over good works.