The Peasants' Brawl 1531 - 1550

This tiny print, made by Sebald Beham in the first half of the 16th century, is an engraving. That means the image was incised into a copper plate with a tool called a burin. Notice how Beham used the technique to its full potential: the image is packed with detail and incident. The figures fighting are rendered with remarkable three-dimensionality, and the artist even included a landscape in the background. This contrasts starkly with the subject matter: a chaotic scene of rural violence, as peasants brawl with each other, weapons drawn, and blood about to be spilled. In the printmaking tradition, the process is crucial. Because prints can be endlessly reproduced, they are often associated with democratic communication. This image cleverly inverts that association. Beham used the power of print to capture a scene of social breakdown, perhaps as a critique of social discord, and a wry comment on the human condition.