Dansend paar 1551

This tiny print of a dancing couple was made by Heinrich Aldegrever, a German artist working in the first half of the sixteenth century. Aldegrever was one of a group of artists who broke with the Catholic church and were associated with the Protestant Reformation, specifically the Anabaptist movement, which rejected infant baptism. Although he later distanced himself from them, his early work is full of imagery relating to the freedom of the individual conscience. This print, however, seems to be more concerned with social mores and how individuals behaved. Note the attire of the dancing couple, how they present themselves, and how it relates to the viewer. Is it dignified, excessive, or vulgar? It's worth thinking about how Aldegrever might have viewed his subjects, and whether he was critical of how they chose to behave. Prints like this were often made as part of a series, intended to be collected and studied in relation to each other. Historians can look at other images in the series and printed books of the time to see how the artist’s work relates to broader social and intellectual trends. The meaning of art is always reliant on its original context.