Albrecht Altdorfer (1482/5-1538), after - Leaf ornament with lilies of the valley

Good impression on laid paper.

Leaf ornament with lilies of the valley. c.1515
Engraving

Biography
Painter, architect, and printmaker from Regensburg, probably the son and pupil of Ulrich Altdorfer, a 'Briefmaler' and miniaturist who was active in Regensburg from 1478 to 1491. Little is documented of his youthful career, although his earliest works reveal the influence of Lucas Cranach and Albrecht Dürer. He also studied Italian engravings, a collection of which is recorded in his will. The majority of his prints were made between c.1506 and c.1525. Among his paintings to have survived, the most important commission was the large altarpiece with scenes from the Passion of Christ and the life of St Sebastian, done for the Augustine monastery of St Florian, near Linz, on which he worked intermittently from 1509 to 1516. His famous painting the 'Battle of Alexander', signed and dated 1529 (Munich, Alte Pinakothek), was one of a series commissioned by Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria. He also worked on commissions for the Emperor Maximilian. His printed oeuvre is remarkable for its variety: it amounts to ninety-three woodcuts, seventy-eight small and finely detailed engravings, and thirty-six etchings which include an innovative group of pure landscapes. The single most important collection of graphic work by Altdorfer, consisting of seventy-six drawings and fine impressions of the majority of his prints, was assembled in an album by Georg Abraham Peuchel and presented to the city of Regensburg in 1651 (now Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek).

Bibliographic references
New Hollstein (German) / The New Hollstein: German engravings, etchings and woodcuts 1400-1700 (e.93) (Altdorfer)(e.93)
Bartsch / Le Peintre graveur (VIII.64.65)

(Source: British Museum)

Late nineteenth century engraving after the original.

Condition is good.