BEHAM, BROTHERS. - German painters, engravers, and woodcutters. HANS SEBALD, b. at Nuremberg in 1500, d. at Frankfurt in 1550; BARTHEL, b. at Nuremberg in 1502, d. in Italy in 1540. Together with Pencz and others, they belong to the group of the so-called “Kleinmeister” (so called because of the often very small format of their engravings), Dürer (v.), while at the same time undergoing strong new influences, especially in ornamentation, from Italian Renaissance art (Pollaiolo, Mantegna), as is shown by Barthel’s best-known painting, the Miracle of the Cross in the Munich picture gallery (1530).
In their engravings they interpreted, besides mythological themes and scenes from popular life, religious subjects. Their skill as portraitists led Barthel, from 1530 onward, to enter the service of the dukes of Bavaria at Munich and Landshut. - Vedi Tav. LXXIII.