Die Herzenschmiede [Forge of the Heart], after Albrecht Dürer

In the central composition, a heart is held upon a flaming anvil by one figure, labeled Invidia [Envy], while it is hammered by another, Tribulatio [Tribulation]. At opposite corners, the figure of Tolerantia [Forebearance] reclines, while Spes [Hope] point to the heavens as rain falls. This allegory of the trial and reward of Patience was invented by the Nuremburg humanist, Willibald Pirckheimer, as his own device, and interpreted by his friend Dürer in a drawing that is the basis of this engraving. Elaborating upon the concept, the printmaker tethered the panel of the composition to an ionic column, emblematic of Christ’s Flagellation, and therefore the Passion, archetype of Christian patience. Close in style to Beham, even signing “I. B.” to capitalize on his success, this printmaker may have been the young Georg Pencz, whose mature Medea is adjacent.