Schongauer, Martin

(born between 1435 and 1450; died 1491)

   Alsatian painter and engraver, trained by his father, a goldsmith of Colmar. He is one of the most important German painters of the late Gothic period. As an apprentice he may have traveled in Spain and the Netherlands, and the obvious influence of Rogier van der Weyden suggests that he spent time in Flanders. He spent most of his career in Colmar but moved in 1489 to Breisach, where he executed a series of frescoes, The Last Judgment (ca. 1489-1491). Other surviving paint-ings include his Orlier Altarpiece (ca. 1465-1470), The Virgin of the Rose Garden (ca. 1473), and The Adoration of the Shepherds (ca. 1480) as well as several smaller paintings, including two representing the Holy Family. He also left a number of pen and ink drawings. From the perspective of modern art historians, however, his most important work is his body of 116 copperplate engravings. These prints made him famous and influenced not only German artists like Hans Burgk-mair and Albrecht Dürer but also Michelangelo and Raphael. The most famous of them was The Temptation of St. Anthony. Schongauer seems to have been the first German artist to sign his engravings, and he signed all 116 of them.