SCHONGAUER, MARTIN. – Painter and engraver, born in Augsburg or Colmar in Alsace between 1435 and 1443, died at Breisach in 1491.
In 1465 he was in Leipzig in the service of the University; he then went to Colmar, from where in 1489 he moved to nearby Breisach, and remained there until his death. His only dated work is the large Madonna in the Colmar Museum, painted by him in 1473, which shows clear references to the art of Rogier van der Weyden, who was probably his teacher. Greater was his importance as the author of no fewer than 115 prints, of the utmost importance not Dürer (v.) but also because of their diffusion throughout Europe, including Italy, where they were known by Michelangelo himself, who, according to Vasari, in his youth also copied the print of St. Anthony Tormented by Demons.