Leonhard Beck ( – 1542) was a painter and

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 that ...

s designer in

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

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

Hans Holbein the Elder Hans Holbein the Elder ( , ; ; – 1524) was a German painter. Life Holbein was born in the free imperial city of Augsburg (Germany), and died in Issenheim, Alsace (now France). He belonged to a celebrated family of painters; his father wa ...

, contributing to an altarpiece in 1500-1501 that is now housed in the

Städel The Städel, officially the ''Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie'', is an art museum in Frankfurt, with one of the most important collections in Germany. The museum is located at the Museumsufer on the Sachsenhausen bank of t ...

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. His most notable work emerged during his collaboration with Emperor Maximilian I's artistic team, which produced various self-promotional projects in woodcut. Beck served as the primary designer for the extensively illustrated poem, '' Theuerdank'' (1517), creating 77 of the 118 woodcuts. He made extensive revisions for the second edition in 1519, as demanded by Maximilian, although his style often clashed jarringly with that of the more skilled artists whose work he was modifying. He designed 126 blocks for '' Der Weisskunig'' and 7 for the '' Triumphal Procession''. He also painted and drew numerous portraits, mainly for book illustrations, and created woodcut designs. Beck is also known for a compilation of 123 woodcuts made 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. The intention of the commission was to show saintly members of Maximilian's family. Some of the images show saints connected to the Abbey of Maubeuge that received a copy of the set.

References

External links

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