Beham belongs to a group of German printmakers whom scholars call the Little Masters, for the small scale of their prints. The appeal of these miniatures grew with the rise of collector’s cabinets (kunstkammers). The small scale required a technical virtuosity much admired by collectors. Beham was a prolific printmaker who produced nearly 2,000 prints. His prints are of widely varying subjects, including biblical themes, Roman history, mythology, and personifications of allegorical concepts, as seen here. Beham also produced an allegory of Fortune, to be paired with Misfortune.
- Titles Misfortune (Proper)
- Artist Hans Sebald Beham, German, 1500 - 1550
- Medium engraving
- Dimensions sheet: 3 1/16 × 2 in. (7.7 × 5.1 cm) mat: 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
- Credit Line Gift of the Junior League of Birmingham, 1953.6
- Work Type print
- Classification Prints
- Signature Signed with artist's monogram in plate, upper left: HSB
- Marks None
- Inscription Recto, upper center, along edge, in plate: INFORTVNIVM Verso, lower left, in graphite: C[?]37851 [crossed out] Lower left, in graphite: 180 Lower left, in graphite: a95071 Lower center, along edge, in graphite: K. 11070
- Provenance Junior League of Birmingham, Alabama; gift to the Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, 1953