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Heinrich Aldegrever

Two Torch-Bearers, plate two from The Large Wedding-Dancers

1538
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
11.6 × 7.7 cm (4.6 × 3 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

The figures in Aldegrever’s lively series of couples and musicians at a wedding show off daggers and swords as gentlemen’s fashion accessories rather than as weapons. As the couples pivot, pace, and embrace, blades peek out at different angles, whether impeding intimacy or visually alluding to increasing amorousness. Moving from left to right in triumphal procession, dancers sway to the tune of trombonists in their wake.

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