Thetis and Chiron.

Engraving, 13,2 x 18,5 cm, laid paper, signed and dated in plate in cartouche at upper right corner "GP 1543" (trimmed to and within the platemark, upper and lower right corners torn with loss of text, left edge frayed, several brown stains).

Thetis and Chiron engaged in converstation in a cave. They are approached by Achilles with a bow and Hercules presenting the Nemean Lion. Pencz’s image conflates two stories, a confusion that may be attributed to the engraver, or to the misleading inscription at the upper right. The inscription indicates that the scene represents the centaur Chiron’s instruction of the Greek hero Achilles. Though Achilles is present in the right background, it is Hercules, another of Chiron’s pupils, who is more prominent, having just killed his first lion. The central female figure is likely Achilles’ mother, Thetis. To confuse things further, the hoofed figure of Chiron is shown not as a centaur (half man/half horse) as legend requires, but a satyr (half man/half goat). Georg Pencz and Hans Sebald Beham worked in Reformation Nuremberg during and after Dürer’s life and are considered as part of the German "Little Masters".
Ref. German Hollstein XXXI.219.119. - Bartsch VIII.347.90.
Joined: 1. Abraham de Bruyn - "Libito". Anwerp, 1570. Engraving 4,5 x 3,3 cm, laid paper, signed and dated in plate "ADB 1570" (some stains and creases). Very rare. Ref. Hollstein (De Bruyn), 54.-- 2. Anonymous - Venus crowning a satyr. Tiny engraving, 3,1 x 1,9 cm, laid paper, unsigned (trimmed on all sides, possibly part of a larger composition, loss of engraving at satyr's middle). (3 pcs)