Baldung, Hans, called Grien

BALDUNG, Hans, called Grien. - Painter, woodcut artist and draughtsman, b. at Schwäbisch-Gmünd in 1484 (1485?), d. at Strasbourg in 1545. He trained in the painting of Swabia, of Alsace and especially of Nuremberg, where, in his youth, he collaborated with Dürer. Having then moved to Strasbourg, and become a citizen there in 1505, he remained there until his death, apart from brief interruptions; the longest of these took him to Freiburg where, from 1512 to 1516, he executed his masterpiece, the altar of the Cathedral. At this period influences of Grünewald (v.) begin to appear in B.'s style, and especially as regards colour. In German art of the first half of the 16th century B. is, just as he is one of the most expressive and refined colourists, so also to be counted among the strongest woodcut artists and draughtsmen. His portraits are marked by a certain Renaissance grandeur, while an almost macabre and medieval fantasy animates his triumphs of death, his witches, etc.; in religious representations he expresses both the gentlest intimacy and the monumentality suited to great altars. His paintings are in the principal galleries of Europe, especially of Germany. - See Pl. XLVIII.

Bernardo Degenhart