Leonhard Beck (c. 1480 – 1542) was a painter and designer of

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 in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

, Germany. He was the son of Georg Beck, who was active as a miniaturist in Augsburg c. 1490-1512/15. He worked with his father on two Psalters for the Augsburg monastery in 1495. He was an assistant to

Hans Holbein the Elder Hans Holbein the Elder ( , ; german: Hans Holbein der Ältere; – 1524) was a German painter. Life Holbein was born in free imperial city of Augsburg (Germany), and died in Issenheim, Alsace (now France). He belonged to a celebrated family o ...

, working on a Holbein altarpiece now in the Städel in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

in 1500-1501. His most notable work came when he joined the stable of artists, most in Augsburg, used by

Emperor Maximilian I Maximilian I (22 March 1459 – 12 January 1519) was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death. He was never crowned by the pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians. He proclaimed himself Ele ...

for his series of self-propagandising projects in or with woodcut. He was the main designer for the heavily illustrated poem '' Theuerdank'' (1517), producing 77 of the 118 woodcuts, and apparently all the many adjustments Maximilian required for the second edition in 1519. In these, his style often contrasts painfully with those of the better artists whose work he was altering. He designed 126 blocks for ''

Der Weisskunig ''Der Weisskunig'' or ''The White King'' is a chivalric novel and thinly disguised biography of the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian I, (1486–1519) written in German by Maximilian and his secretary between 1505 and 1516. Although not explicitly ...

'' and 7 for the ''

Triumphal Procession The ''Triumphal Procession'' (in German, ''Triumphzug'') or ''Triumphs of Maximilian'' is a monumental 16th-century series of woodcut prints by several artists, commissioned by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. The composite image was pr ...

''. He painted and drew a number of portraits, and designed woodcuts, mostly for book illustrations. Beck is also known for a compilation of 123 woodcuts, all by him, entitled the ''Genealogy of the House of Habsburg'' (or in French ''Images de Saints et Saintes issus de la famille de l'empereur Maximilien I''). The work was commissioned by Maximilian I, intended to show saintly members of his family. Some of the images show saints connected to the Abbey of Maubeuge, which apparently received a copy of the set.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Leonhard 1480 births 1542 deaths Artists from Augsburg German draughtsmen German printmakers 16th-century German painters German male painters German Renaissance painters