Wrath - Heinrich Aldegrever

A rare copper engraving plate by Heinrich Aldegrever depicting the personification of Wrath, featuring fine burin work and classical iconography.

This copper plate engraving by Heinrich Aldegrever depicts the personification of Wrath, one of the Seven Vices. Aldegrever, a member of the group known as the Little Masters, produced small-scale, highly detailed prints that circulated widely across Europe during the sixteenth century. His work reflects the technical precision common to the Nuremberg school, influenced by the output of Albrecht Dürer.

The composition features a central figure engaged in a violent act, accompanied by a bear, which serves as a traditional iconographic symbol for the vice of anger. The figure draws a bow, aiming arrows with a sense of focused aggression. The background contains subtle atmospheric elements, while the foreground includes Latin text inscribed directly onto the plate. This text provides a moralising context for the viewer, typical of the period's interest in didactic art.

Technically, the engraving demonstrates the artist's command of the burin. The lines are fine and controlled, creating form through cross-hatching and varying density. The plate itself shows the physical evidence of its creation, with the mirror-image text at the bottom indicating that this is the original matrix used for printing. The metallic surface of the copper provides a unique texture, capturing the light in a way that paper prints cannot. This object offers a direct connection to the printing process of the Renaissance, revealing the physical labour involved in producing such detailed allegorical works. The work is part of a larger series exploring human morality, a common theme for artists working in the wake of the Reformation, where visual imagery functioned as a tool for both education and reflection.