Sebald Beham: Entrepreneur, Printmaker, Painter

Abstract

The prints of Sebald Beham and his brother Barthel were the subject of a recent exhibition titled Gottlosen Maler at the AlbrechtDűrer-Haus in Nuremberg (March 3–July 3, 2011), where this essay was included in the exhibition catalogue in German. Revised and expanded for publication in this journal in English, the essay addresses Beham’s biography and historiography and argues that Beham should be viewed as a highly creative and productive entrepreneur and as one of the first “painters” (to use terminology of the time) to specialize in prints. Between 1520 and 1550, he produced a prodigious number of prints. 10.5092/jhna.2012.4.2.3