From the death of Dürer in 1528 the German traditions were carried on during the sixteenth century by the group of seven engravers known as the "Little Masters" by reason of the small size of their plates. Heinrich Aldegrever (1502-1558), Albrecht Altdorfer (1480-1538), Hans Sebald Beham (1500-1550) and Barthel Beham (1496-1540) Pencz (1500-1550), Jakob Binck (1490-1569), Hans Brosamer (born in 1506), the last three being pupils of Dürer. The price of prints of this group cannot be said to be cheap, but a Brosamer may occasionally be met with for half a sovereign. Aldegrever and Altdorfer run into pounds. The Medea and Jason of Pencz or his Crucifixion may be bought for a sovereign, and some of his prints for as little as 5s. apiece. Barthel Beham's Death of Cleopatra is cheap at half a sovereign, and Hans Sebald's Leda may be procured for 15s. as a bargain.
Lucas van Leyden, the friend of Dürer, is the patriarch of the Dutch school. At the age of nine he had engraved plates after his own designs. His plates are a hundred and ten in number. Among the great engravers of the Renaissance of the North his name stands hardly less eminent than that of Dürer. His great excellence lies in ornament. His Panels of Ornaments have characteristics not dissimilar to Dürer's Coat of Arms with the Cock.
The Low Countries adopted the Germanised version of the Italian schools until in the seventeenth century Rubens and Vandyck created schools of their own. Rubens with his love of colour demanded a free and flowing style to interpret his voluptuous
