36. Etienne Delaune
(1518/19-1583)

Combat d'Enfants

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Delaune, Combat d'Enfants

Combat d'Enfants

Engraving from Quatre Petits Combats, 31 x 84 mm., Robert-Dumesnil 265 only state, ex collection: Henri Vever (Lugt 2491bis). A very good, though not black impression on laid paper with white space outside the borderline all around; flattened vertical creases, dirty on the reverse, with several tiny breakthroughs. Although the Little Masters are conventionally considered to be Germanic artists, there were parallel developments in the Netherlands and France. Delaune is one of major examples of the latter, being an exceptionally fine engraver, especially on a small scale. The subject is a frequent conceit in Renaissance art - the substitution of children for adults in supposedly serious subject matter - and may be matched with Beham's Children's Triumph.