Aldegraef (or Aldegrever), Heinrich

Aldegraef (Or Aldegrever), Heinrich, a German painter and engraver, was born at Zoust, in Westphalia, in 1502. He studied at Nuremberg under Albert Durer, and followed him in both arts and became very distinguished. Some of his pictures are to be seen in the galleries of Munich and Schleisheim, and at Berlin a remarkable one of the Last Judgment. 'He executed some pictures for the churches and convents of Westphalia. After a few years he devoted himself entirely to engraving, and became very noted among that class called " the little masters," from the small size of their plates. His style was Gothic. The following are a few of the principal engravings: six plates illustrating the Fall and Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise (dated 1540): — four plates of the History of Lot (1555): — four plates of the History of Joseph and his Brethren: — -Judith with the Head of Holofernes (1528): — the Four Evangelists (1539): — the Virgin Carrying the Infant Jesus, with a standard (1552). The year of his death is not known, but there are prints by him dated as late as 1562.. His prints are very numerous, amounting, according to abbe de Marolles, to no less than 350.. The first collection of them was made by Mariette, to the amount of 390 pieces, comprising many-duplicates with differences. This collection was sold in France in 1805 for 660 francs. See Strutt and Pilkington, Dictionaries; Chalmers, Biog. Dict. s.v.; Spooner, Biog. Hist. of the Fine Arts, s.v.