Imperial Augsburg: Renaissance Prints and Drawings, 1475–1540

About the publication

With a storied past and a strong imperial presence, Augsburg in southern Germany enjoyed a golden age in the late 15th and early 16th century—fostering artists such as Hans Burgkmair, Erhard Ratdolt, Daniel Hopfer, Jörg Breu, and Hans Weiditz. Operating between the Habsburg royal court and the city's own market, they flourished there from about 1475, as the effects of the Italian Renaissance were first being felt, through the social, political, and religious upheavals of the Reformation, which took hold in 1537. This rich and varied history is told through some 100 works, most taken from the extensive collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington with loans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, and private collections. Focusing on the drawings, prints, and illustrated books they created as well as the innovative printing techniques they used, this exhibition—the first of its kind in America—serves as an introduction to Augsburg, its artists and its cultural history, during the Renaissance. The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

This hardcover book is 120 pages and includes 48 color illustrations. It is published by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in association with Lund Humphries (2012).

Gregory Jecmen is associate curator of old master prints and drawings at the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Freyda Spira is associate curator of drawings and prints at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

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