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Hans
Baldung, born in 1484/85 in Gmünd (Schwabia), German painter and engraver,
the most gifted of Dürer’s
pupils, worked in Nürnberg in 1503-07. Since 1509 till the end of
his life he lived in Strasbourg, save for 1512-1516, when he painted
the grandiose altar for the local cathedral in Freiburg. In his style,
Baldung was influenced by the great masters of the German Renaissance,
first of all by Dürer, but also by Cranach
the Elder and partly by Grünewald
and Altdorfer. Interest
to antique mythology, typical for his time, is combined in his art with
mystique and pessimism.
Baldung’s major works were altarpieces. The largest creation of the master
is the many-winged altar in the Cathedral of Freiburg-im-Breisgau (1513-16),
the central part of which is Coronation of the Virgin, and
on the wings there are scenes from her life. Bright and daring colors,
strict and clear composition, monumental and solemn tranquility of the
main characters make the Freiburg altarpiece one of the masterpieces of
the northern Renaissance. Magnificent for its bold color is The
Three Kings Altarpiece, which was painted for the cathedral
of Halle shortly after Baldung finished his apprenticeship at Dürer’s
studio. St. Catherine of Alexandria and St. Agnes appear to the left and
right on the outside of the wings; St. George and St. Maurice on the inside.
The highly individual central Magus suggests a donor portrait. More attractive,
however, are his small pictures on Biblical subjects, especially those,
connected with the Virgin: The Nativity
(1520).
Already then, young Baldung touched the subject of doom. He created paintings,
etchings, drawings with the contrast of life and death. Three
Ages of Life and Death (1509-11). His development leads from
the latest Gothic forms via the Italian Renaissance, whose harmony he never
strove to achieve, into Mannerism. Allegorical themes are more and
more pretentious and artificial, Girl and
Death. (1517). Intensive coloring gives place to cooler tones.
He was also highly regarded as a portraitist, and from about 1530 he was
considered to be one of the best artists on the Upper Rhine.
Bibliography:Hans Baldung Grien: Prints and Drawings by
James H. and Shestack, Alan Marrow (Editor). University of Chicago Press.
1981
Painting of Europe. XIII-XX centuries. Encyclopedic Dictionary.
Moscow. Iskusstvo. 1999.
The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art by
Joseph Leo Koerner. University of Chicago Press, 1993.
Hans
Baldung Grien - Prints and Drawings. Yale Univ Art Gallery,
1995.
Hans
Baldung Grien: Handzeichn., Druckgraphik by Hans Baldung. S?dwest-Verlag,
1978.