Hanns Lautensack (sometimes erroneously referred to as Hans Sebald Lautensack) (1524 – 1560) was a German

etcher Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

and draughtsman. He was one of two sons of

Paul Lautensack Paul Lautensack (1478 – 15 August 1558) was a German painter and organist. Lautensack was born in Bamberg, but in 1525, on account of his having embraced the Reformation, he left that city and settled in Nuremberg. Kress Berthold. 2014. ''Divi ...

, a painter of

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...

, where he was born in 1524. When still a child his parents settled in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

, and there he lived during the greater portion of his life. In 1556 he was working in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He may have been summoned to Vienna by the Emperor, Ferdinand I, to make pictures of his collection of coins from antiquity. He died in Vienna sometime between 1564 and 1566. His etchings are generally marked with a monogram composed of the letters ''H. S. L''. His brother

Heinrich Heinrich may refer to: People * Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...

was a goldsmith. Lautensack is known primarily for his etchings. Stylistically, these can be divided into two periods, one from the time when he was working in Nuremberg and the other comprising his Vienna years. The Nuremberg etchings include several portraits of burghers of the city portrayed by a window opening on to a distant landscape. In his treatment of the subject matter, Lautensack here displays influences from the

Little Masters The Little Masters ("Kleinmeister" in German), were a group of German printmakers who worked in the first half of the 16th century, primarily in engraving. They specialized in very small finely detailed prints, some no larger than a postage stamp. ...

and the Danube school; as for individual artistic links,

Barthel Beham Barthel Beham (or Bartel)With manother variants/ref> (1502–1540) was a German engraver, miniaturist, and painter. Biography The younger brother of Hans Sebald Beham, he was born into a family of artists in Nuremberg. Learning his art from his ...

Sebald Beham Sebald Beham (1500–1550) was a German painter and printmaker, mainly known for his very small engravings. Born in Nuremberg, he spent the later part of his career in Frankfurt. He was one of the most important of the "Little Masters", the group ...

Georg Pencz Georg Pencz (c. 1500 – 11 October 1550) was a German engraver, painter and printmaker. Pencz was probably born in Westheim near Bad Windsheim/Franconia. He travelled to Nuremberg in 1523 and joined Albrecht Dürer’s atelier. Like Düre ...

Albrecht Altdorfer Albrecht Altdorfer (12 February 1538) was a German painter, engraver and architect of the Renaissance working in Regensburg, Bavaria. Along with Lucas Cranach the Elder and Wolf Huber he is regarded to be the main representative of the Danube Sc ...

and

Wolfgang Huber Wolfgang Huber (born 12 August 1942 in Strasbourg, Germany) is a prominent German theologian and ethicist. Huber served as bishop of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia until November 2009. Huber succeeded Man ...

can be mentioned. In Vienna, Lautensack received more prestigious commissions, making portraits for the aristocracy and similar commissions. He contributed to several illustrated books. His style of portraits became more mannered, similar to that of the

School of Fontainebleau The School of Fontainbleau (french: École de Fontainebleau) (c. 1530 – c. 1610) refers to two periods of artistic production in France during the late Renaissance centered on the royal Palace of Fontainebleau that were crucial in forming the No ...

, while his landscapes drew more inspiration from Netherlandish printmaking, notably

Hieronymus Cock Hieronymus Cock, or Hieronymus Wellens de Cock (1518 – 3 October 1570) was a Flemish painter and etcher as well as a publisher and distributor of prints.

. In his characterisation of Lautensack, Michael Bryan notes that his landscapes are etched in a dark, forbidding style; and also opines that some portraits, etched and finished with the graver, possess considerable merit.

Arthur Mayger Hind Arthur Mayger Hind (1880–1957) was a British art historian and curator, who usually published as Arthur M. Hind or A. M. Hind. He specialized in old master prints, and was Keeper of the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Mus ...

points to similarities with the etchings made by

Augustin Hirschvogel Augustin Hirschvogel (1503 – February 1553) was a German artist, mathematician, and cartographer known primarily for his etchings. His thirty-five small landscape etchings, made between 1545 and 1549, assured him a place in the Danube School ...

and Albrecht Altdorfer, but notes that "the usual charm of this school of landscape is in Lautensack somewhat marred by the overcrowding of detail, and in the attempt at working more in a painter's manner the value of line is lost."

References

Attribution: *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lautensack, Hans Sebald 1524 births 1560s deaths Artists from Nuremberg 16th-century German painters German male painters German printmakers