German Renaissance Prints, 1490-1550

The Renaissance in Germany was one of the most important periods in the history of European printmaking. Largely through the singular efforts of Albrecht Durer, the woodcut was transformed from cheap book decoration into a medium of artistic merit in its own right. From the last quarter of the 15th century painters began to take up the technique and introduced many innovations. The first etching ever to be produced dates from the early 16th century. The collection held by the British Museum ranks with the greatest in the world and this catalogue includes some of its finest examples. Prints were used to propagate the ideas of the Reformation and the humanists, and were also favoured by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I as a cheap means of glorifying his status. The stylistic diversity and historical context of German Renaissance prints is emphasized. There is a representative selection of the works of Albrecht Durer, and also his pupil Hans Baldung Grien. Artists from Augsburg include Hans Burgkmair, Hans Schaufelein and Jorg Breu, and Lucas Cranach, close friend of Martin Luther and specialist in elegant portraits and courtly subjects for the dukes of Saxony.
Also represented are the earliest landscapes in German art, and prints designed by the court painter to Henry VIII, Hans Holbein the Younger. This catalogue is published to accompany an exhibition opening at the British Museum from 16 June to 10 September 1995.