Imperial Augsburg

With a storied past and a strong imperial presence, Augsburg enjoyed a golden age in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century - fostering artists such as Hans Burgkmair, Erhard Ratdolt, Daniel Hopfer, Jorg Breu and Hans Weiditz. Operating in the liminal space between the Habsburg 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 following twenty years of struggle. Focusing on the drawings, prints and illustrated books they created as well as the innovative printing techniques they used, this volume - the first of its kind in English - serves as an introduction to Augsburg, its artists and its cultural history, during this period. Encompassing imperial propaganda, humanist subjects and devotional works addressing a variety of religious concerns, this distinctive body of work - recognisably the product of imperial Augsburg - also celebrates artistic virtuosity and invention.