Hans

Burgkmair

'the Elder'


Hans Burgkmair 'the Elder' (1473-1531) was a German painter and designer of woodcuts. After learning his trade under Schongauer in Colmar, he had settled in his native Augsburg by 1498. Before then he is presumed to have been to Italy, for his paintings, with their warm glow of color, their decorative Classical motifs, and their intricate spatial composition, show how decisively he transformed his late Gothic heritage with Renaissance influence. Indeed, he occupied a place in Augsburg comparable to that of Dürer in Nuremberg in introducing the new style.

Like Dürer he contributed to the famous series of woodcuts for the Emperor, "The Triumph of Maximilian". He was also employed to illustrate the Emperor's own writings, "The Teuerdank" and "Weisskunig", moralizing knightly romances. A certain clarity of characterization, which is typical of all his works, not least his incisive portraits, seems to have influenced Hans Holbein the Younger. His son, Hans Burgkmair 'the Younger' (circa 1500-59), was a painter and engraver.


 

"St.John at Patmos" (1518) Pine panel. Pinakothek at Munich, Germany.

 

 

"Natural Fools, from the Triumphal Procession of Emperor Maximilian of Austria" (1526) Woodcut on paper.


Text source: 'Webmuseum' (www.ibiblio.org/wm).

Related Artists:

Related Terms: Renaissance, Gothic, Classicism, Engraving.

 

share this page (aged 13 or over only)

 

About Colorland, Site Policy & Important Notices. Colorland Network©Gabriel Picart. All rights reserved.