BURGKMAIR, Hans. - German painter, draftsman, and woodcut artist, born in Augsburg in 1473, died there in 1531. He trained artistically under his father, Thomas, a painter of minor importance in the Augsburg school; he was later influenced in drawing by Schongauer (q.v.) and Dürer, and in color by Holbein the Elder (q.v.) and the Venetians. In 1498 he became a master in Augsburg. From 1501 to 1509 he collaborated with Holbein the Elder on the painting of the series of Roman Basilicas, executing those of St. Peter, St. John Lateran, and the Holy Cross (now in the Augsburg museum). After several trips to Italy, he became one of the principal promoters of the broad Renaissance style, ornamentation, and classical architecture in German painting. His portraits, many altarpieces, and religious paintings are found in the galleries of Augsburg, Munich, Berlin, and elsewhere.
His woodcut work is extremely extensive (Madonna, saints, The Seven Virtues, The Seven Sins, a portrait of Pope Julius II, book illustrations). He was one of the leading wood engravers for Emperor Maximilian I (Weisskunig, c. 1513–16; Genealogy, 1510; Triumph of the Emperor, 1516–18; Theuerdank, after 1512); with Dürer and others, he also executed three designs for the emperor’s famous Prayer Book. Along with Jost de Negker, he was one of the first masters of color woodcut. — See Pl. XVII.