Italian Mannerist Painter, 1494-ca.1556 Italian painter and draughtsman. He was the leading painter in mid-16th-century Florence and one of the most original and extraordinary of Mannerist artists. His eccentric personality, solitary and slow working habits and capricious attitude towards his patrons are described by Vasari; his own diary, which covers the years 1554-6, further reveals a character with neurotic and secretive aspects. Pontormo enjoyed the protection of the Medici family throughout his career but, unlike Agnolo Bronzino and Giorgio Vasari, did not become court painter. His subjective portrait style did not lend itself to the state portrait. He produced few mythological works and after 1540 devoted himself almost exclusively to religious subjects. His drawings, mainly figure studies in red and black chalk, are among the highest expressions of the great Florentine tradition of draughtsmanship; close to 400 survive, forming arguably the most important body of drawings by a Mannerist painter.   Related Paintings of Pontormo :. | Son and out of Notre Dame St. | Madonna and Child with Two Saints | Noli me tangere | Joseph in Egypt | Christian burial |
Related Artists:
Hans Suss von Kulmbach
1476-1522 German Hans Suss von Kulmbach Gallery German painter and graphic artist. His real name was Hans S??ss. In general his work reveals the influence of D??rer, but he had little of the master's power. Von Kulmbach worked chiefly in Nuremberg, although he probably spent several years in Cracow as court painter. His masterpiece is the Tucher altarpiece for the Church of St. Sebald in Nuremberg. He also executed portraits and designs for painted glass.
Wallerant Vaillant
Wallerant Vaillant, (Lille 30 May 1623 - Amsterdam 28 August 1677), was a painter of the Dutch Golden Age and one of the first artists to use the mezzotint technique, which he probably helped to develop. Wallerant Vaillant was the oldest of five brothers, who all became successful painters. Jacques (1625 - 1691) traveled to Italy where he joined the Bentvueghels in Rome with the nickname Leeuwrik, and settled later in Berlin. Jan (1627 - 1668+) was an engraver considered to be a member of the school of Frankenthal and later became a merchant in Frankfurt. Bernard (1632 - 1698) accompanied Wallerant on all of his travels, and settled later in Rotterdam, where he became deacon of the Wallonian Church. Andreas (1655 - 1693), the youngest, became an engraver in Paris, and died in Berlin visiting his brother Jacques. It is said Wallerant was a student of Erasmus Quellinus II (1607 - 1678) in Antwerp. He moved with his parents in 1643 to Amsterdam. In 1647 he lived in Middelburg, but in 1649 he was back in Amsterdam. In 1658 he traveled with his brother to Frankfurt and Heidelberg. He helped invent the Mezzotint technique (schraapkunst, or zwartekunst) with Prince Rupert of the Rhine when he was his tutor performing experiments in etching techniques. In 1659 he went to Paris with Philibert de Gramont where he stayed five years.
Jost Amman
(June 13, 1539, Zerich - March 17, 1591, Nuremberg, Bavaria) was a Swiss artist, celebrated chiefly for his woodcuts, done mainly for book illustrations. Amman was born in Zurich, the son of a professor of Classics and Logic. He was himself well-educated. Little of his personal history is known beyond the fact that he moved to Nuremberg in 1560, where he continued to reside until his death in March 1591. He worked initially with Virgil Solis, then a leading producer of book illustrations. His productiveness was very remarkable, as may be gathered from the statement of one of his pupils, that the drawings he made during a period of four years would have filled a hay wagon. A large number of his original drawings are in the Berlin print room. About 1,500 prints are attributed to him. He was one of the last major producers of woodcuts for books, as during his career engravings were gradually taking over that role. Although like most artists for woodcut he normally let a specialist formschneider cut the block to his drawing, he sometimes included both a cutter's knife and a quill pen in his signature on prints, suggesting he sometimes cut his own blocks. A series of engravings by Amman of the kings of France, with short biographies, appeared in Frankfurt in 1576. He also executed many of the woodcut illustrations for the Bible published at Frankfurt by Sigismund Feierabend. Another serial work, the Panoplia Omnium Liberalium Mechanicarum et Seden-tariarum Artium Genera Continens, containing 115 plates, is of great value. Amman's drawing is correct and spirited, and his delineation of the details of costume is minute and accurate. Paintings in oil and on glass are attributed to him, but none have been identified.