Michael Wolgemut

Michael Wolgemut , 1434-1519, German painter, wood carver, and engraver who worked mainly in Nuremberg. First instructed by his father and in Munich, he traveled and then returned to Hans Pleydenwurff's shop in Nuremberg where he worked on the Hofer Altarpiece. The Descent from the Cross panel in this work is treated in a highly patterned, almost abstract style. Wolgemut was the master of Albrecht Dürer. Besides large painted and sculptured altarpieces at Zwickau and Schwabach, executed in his shop, Wolgemut produced hundreds of designs for illustrated books such as the World Chronicle of 1493. The vigor of his outlines is in accord with his taste for drama, complex movement, and forceful characterization.

Wolgemut, Michael (c.1434–1519). German painter and woodcut designer, active in his native Nuremberg. In 1472 he married the widow of Hans Pleydenwurff and took over his workshop, the most prosperous in the city. It produced numerous large altarpieces in which there is little sign of a distinctive individual personality, and Wolgemut is more important for his book illustrations. Amongst many other books he illustrated was Hartmann Schedel's Weltchronik (1493), the most enterprising attempt of its time at combining letterpress with woodcut illustration. Hitherto illustrations in printed books had often been embellished by illumination, but Wolgemut tried to refine the technique of woodcut so that it could achieve its own distinctive effects without hand painting. He is now best remembered as the teacher of Dürer.

Wolgemut, Michael (b Nuremberg, c.1435; d Nuremberg, 30 Nov. 1519). German painter and woodcut designer, active in Nuremberg. In 1472 he married the widow of Hans Pleydenwurff and he later purchased his workshop, which he made the most prosperous in the city. The numerous large altarpieces it produced show little sign of a distinctive individual personality, and Wolgemut is more important for his role in the history of book illustration. Most notably he and his workshop, in partnership with his stepson Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, made the pictures for Hartmann Schedel's Weltchronik (World Chronicle, 1493), which initiated a major shift in book production, popularizing the extensive use of woodcut illustrations. Hitherto illustrations in printed books had been sparing and often embellished by illumination to make the book resemble a manuscript, but in the Weltchronik the woodcuts are abundant—there are more than 600 of them—and determine the character of the book; in Erwin Panofsky's words they ‘opened up a new vision of the representational and expressive possibilities of the medium’. Wolgemut is also remembered as Dürer's teacher. Dürer evidently had great affection for his master, for he painted a touching portrait of Wolgemut in old age (1516, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg) and added an inscription recording his death.