Two Boys Playing with a Dog 1515 - 1540

Barthel Beham created this tiny engraving, "Two Boys Playing with a Dog," in the 1520s. Its diminutive scale belies the skill required to create it. Engraving is an intaglio process; the artist uses a tool called a burin to cut lines into a metal plate, in this case copper. Ink is then forced into these lines, and the plate is pressed onto paper. Look closely, and you can see how Beham varied the pressure of his cuts to create light and shadow. The printmaking process allowed images to be reproduced and disseminated widely. This was especially important during the Reformation when printed images became powerful tools for spreading religious and political ideas. Beham himself was exiled from Nuremberg for his radical views. Consider the labor involved in creating this image. The artist had to be a skilled draughtsman and metalworker. The paper too would have been handmade, each sheet a testament to human effort. By appreciating the materials and processes behind this seemingly simple image, we can gain a deeper understanding of its historical and cultural significance.