Little Masters

The earliest artist to make very small intricate engravings was Altdorfer in 1506–7, probably following the example of Italian niello prints,[3] although their size was in fact no smaller than the bottom end of the very cheap devotional woodcuts made throughout the 15th century.

However Altdorfer's printmaking developed in different directions, though he continued to produce some small engravings until the 1520s, by which time the style had been taken up by the Nuremberg artists, the Beham brothers and their close friend Pencz.

Aldegrever was a convinced Lutheran who developed Anabaptist leanings, which perhaps led to him spending much of his time producing ornament prints with no human figures.

Compared to their contemporaries, devotional subjects are notably absent in the work of the Nuremberg artists, who were all expelled from the city for their religious views in 1525 – an episode that still remains rather unclear.

Minor members of the group were Jacob Binck and Hans Brosamer, and there are some prints by a "Master IB", named after his monogram, who may be either Pencz, Sebald Beham, or a separate artist.