Erhard Altdorfer (c. 1480–1561) was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 Early Renaissance

Early Renaissance painting

Renaissance art is the painting, sculpture and decorative arts of that period of European history known as the Renaissance, emerging as a distinct style in Italy in about 1400, in parallel with developments which occurred in philosophy, literature, music and science...

 printmaker, painter

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

, and architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

, who worked as a court painter

Court painter

A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or noble family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Especially in the late Middle Ages, they were often given the office of valet de chambre...

 in Schwerin

Schwerin

Schwerin is the capital and second-largest city of the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The population, as of end of 2009, was 95,041.-History:...

 from 1512 until his death in 1561.

Erhard Altdorfer was the younger brother of Albrecht Altdorfer

Albrecht Altdorfer

Albrecht Altdorfer was a German painter, printmaker and architect of the Renaissance era.-Biography:Altdorfer was born in Regensburg or Altdorf around 1480....

. Most likely, he was trained by his brother and it is believed they started a workshop together in 1506.

It is assumed Erhard Altdorfer worked in Austria at the Lambach Abbey

Lambach Abbey

Lambach Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Lambach in Austria.-History:A monastery was founded in about 1040 by Bishop Adalbero of Würzburg , which since 1056 has been a Benedictine abbey. During the 17th and 18th centuries a great deal of work in the Baroque style was carried out, much of it by...

, and in St Florian

Sankt Florian

Sankt Florian is a town in Upper Austria, Austria. It is 10 miles from Linz, with a population of 5,500 and an elevation of 296 meters above sea level.-St. Florian's Priory and basilica:...

 and Klosterneuburg

Klosterneuburg

Klosterneuburg is an attractive small town in Lower Austria, Austria with a population of 24,442.It is located on the Danube, immediately north of Vienna, from which it is separated by the Kahlenberg and Leopoldsberg hills...

 around 1510. In 1512, he went to Schwerin where Duke Henry V of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1348, when Albert II of Mecklenburg and his younger brother John were raised to Dukes of Mecklenburg by King Charles IV...

 (1479–1552) appointed him court painter and architect. During a trip with the duke that year he probably came in contact with Lucas Cranach the Elder

Lucas Cranach the Elder

Lucas Cranach the Elder , was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving...

. A commission for the duke and Albert VII was an altarpiece in Sternberg, however destroyed by fire in 1741.

In 1533–34 his woodcut

Woodcut

Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...

s appeared in Johannes Bugenhagen

Johannes Bugenhagen

Johannes Bugenhagen , also called Doctor Pomeranus by Martin Luther, introduced the Protestant Reformation in the Duchy of Pomerania and Denmark in the 16th century. Among his major accomplishments was organization of Lutheran churches in Northern Germany and Scandinavia...

's Low German

Low German

Low German or Low Saxon is an Ingvaeonic West Germanic language spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands...

 translation of the Bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

 printed in Lübeck

Lübeck

The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...

 by the printer and bookmaker Ludwig Dietz (–1559), a work for which he was rewarded with a house.
Between 1546 and 1551, further construction projects were realized, projects of which remains virtually no traces, why one can have only vague ideas of their character.

In 1552, the written records of John Albert I of Mecklenburg

Mecklenburg

Mecklenburg is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern...

 (1525–1576) tells us Erhard Altdorfer was working for him, and until 1555 Erhard probably worked as the leading architect of the court of Wismar.
He is mentioned a last time in 1561.

Of his surviving works most are those he produced as a painter, and at least parts of the altar pieces in the collection of the St Annen Monastery

St. Annen Museum

The monastery of Saint Annen in Lübeck-Germany is a former monastery of the Augustinians. It is now part of the Lübeck's museum for history of art and culture...

 in Lübeck is attributed to him.

Compared to his brothers, Erhard was less independent and creative in his work, and took a lot of influence from the working practice of the workshop of Cranach and from artists such as Jacopo de' Barbari

Jacopo de' Barbari

Jacopo de' Barbari, sometimes known or referred to as de'Barbari, de Barberi, de Barbari, Barbaro, Barberino, Barbarigo or Barberigo , was an Italian painter and printmaker with a highly individual style. He moved from Venice to Germany in 1500, thus becoming the first Italian Renaissance artist...

.
As it seems, he was primarily as draughtsman and a printmaker and only produced a few paintings. However, he only signed a few of his works, so most of those associated with him are only attributed works.

See also

• German Renaissance
  German Renaissance
  The German Renaissance, part of the Northern Renaissance, was a cultural and artistic movement that spread among German thinkers in the 15th and 16th centuries, which originated from the Italian Renaissance in Italy...