The Triumph of Love, plate one from The Triumphs of Petrarch

The German painter and printmaker Georg Pencz is known as one of the Little Masters (Kleinmeister), along with brothers Barthel and Sebald Beham. These artists were active in Nuremberg, where they likely worked for Albrecht Dürer. They produced jewellike engravings on a small scale. Although still modestly sized, these six Triumphs are some of Pencz’s largest engravings. He traveled throughout Italy around 1539, where he found inspiration in the celebrated 14th-century Triumphs by the poet Petrarch: Love is at first victorious, but Chastity conquers; Fame defeats Chastity, then Time ends Fame’s rule; next, Death stops Time. Finally, Eternity triumphs over Death.