German Artist of the 16th Century(?)

During the first part of the 16th century there was also Albrecht Altdorfer (1480 – 1538), an influential German painter and printmaker. He is acknowledged as the leading artist of the Danube School of painting in Germany, of which landscape painting took a particular prominence. The Danube school was made up of artists from Austria and Bavaria, but another well know German of the school was Jörg Breu the Elder (1475 – 1537).

Germany’s artistic Renaissance in the 16th Century, called the Northern Renaissance, was also seen in painters such as Hans Holbein the Elder (1460 – 1524) and his sons Hans Holbein the Younger (1497 – 1543) and Ambrosius Holbein (1494 – 1519). Although, it is said that many Germany artists followed in the Gothic traditions and the region’s style did not change substantially until the Baroque period in the 17th Century. The German Renaissance artists were influenced by travel to Italy, as Dürer had done, as well as German philosophers such as Johann Reuchlin (1455 – 1522).

The religious and political climate in 16th Century Germany was affected by Martin Luther’s (1483 – 1546) Protestant Reformation movement. The region saw relative calm in the Peace of Augsburg treaty with the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V of Spain (1500 – 1558).