Scroll Ornament with Seated Child 1532

Heinrich Aldegrever created this engraving, "Scroll Ornament with Seated Child," during the Northern Renaissance. The print presents a decorative motif, common in 16th-century Germany. The leafy scrollwork, rendered with fine detail, frames a seated child, or putto, a figure often associated with love and innocence, harking back to classical antiquity. But what was the social function of these prints? Aldegrever, associated with the Protestant Reformation, may have used printmaking to disseminate humanist values and classical imagery among a wider audience, beyond the traditional elite. The relative affordability of prints allowed new ideas to circulate outside the established structures of church and court. To understand this image better, scholars look at the artist's biography, the history of printmaking, and the social and religious context of Reformation-era Germany. Examining these elements helps us better understand the public role of art and the politics of imagery.