Hans Brosamer Porträt des Herzogs Ulrich von Württemberg und Teck

Hans Brosamer (born in the late 1490s, probably in Fulda; died c. 1554) was a German draughtsman, printmaker and painter of the

Renaissance period The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass idea ...

. His life has left hardly any documentary trace, other than his prints, but he was active in Fulda from 1536 to 1545, and later worked in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

. His works include over 600

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas tha ...

s, mostly illustrations for books of various sorts, but also a number of independent prints. He produced 38

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

s (as listed by Hollstein), and a number of drawings, mostly with his monogram. As a painter, a number of portraits of figures from the local elites, normally at half-length, are attributed to him. On account of the small size of his engravings he is counted among 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 many of these are rather derivative of others in the group, such as Jacob Binck and

Heinrich Aldegrever Heinrich Aldegrever or Aldegraf (1502–1555, 1558 or 1561) was a German painter and engraver. He was one of the "Little Masters", the group of German artists making small old master prints in the generation after Albrecht Dürer. Biography Pain ...

, and of

Lucas Cranach the Elder Lucas Cranach the Elder (german: Lucas Cranach der Ältere ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is kno ...

in his portraits. One of his woodcuts was in contrast very large, and no doubt intended to be pasted to walls. This was his ''David and Bathsheba'', built up from nine blocks, and printed in 1554, his last dated work; unsurprisingly, it is very rare. His woodcuts include a hostile ''Caricature of Luther with Seven Heads'' (1529).Bartrum, 178-179; BM He signs himself on his portrait of the Landgrave of Hesse, 'Formschneider zu

,' ("blockcutter" of Erfurt), where he resided during the latter part of his life. He sometimes marked his plates with his name, and sometimes with a cipher. Hans brosamer, fillide e aristotele, 1545 ca

Hans brosamer, fillide e aristotele, 1545 ca

Selected works

The following are his principal works:

Selected engravings

*''Portrait of George Wicelaus''. 1542. *''Portrait of John II, Abbot of Fulda''. *''Samson and Delilah''; Johannes Brosamer Fulda degens faciebat, 15 H. B. 45. *''Bathsheba in the Bath''. *''Idolatry of Solomon''. 1543. *''Phyllis riding on Socrates''. *''Laocoon and his Children''. 1538. *''Marcus Curtius leaping into the Gulf''; circular. 1540. *''The Judgment of Paris''. *''The Crucifixion''; Joh. Brosamer Fulda degens faciebat, 1542

Woodcuts

*''Creation of Eve''. *''Eve giving Adam the apple''. *''David and Bathsheba''. *''Queen of Sheba before Solomon''. *''The Last Supper''. *''SS. Jerome, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James the Great''. *''John the Baptist in Prison''. *Twenty-one pieces from the ''Revelation''. *''Caricature of Luther with Seven Heads'', 1529

Portraits

*''Eoben Hess'', the poet. *''George Sturtz'', physician. *''

Philip, Landgrave of Hesse Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (13 November 1504 – 31 March 1567), nicknamed (in English: "the Magnanimous"), was a German nobleman and champion of the Protestant Reformation, notable for being one of the most important of the early Protesta ...

''.

References

* Bartrum, Giulia, ''German Renaissance Prints, 1490–1550''; British Museum Press, 1995, *"BM"
British Museum biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brosamer, Hans Year of birth unknown 1554 deaths German engravers German Renaissance painters 16th-century German artists People from Fulda