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Jost Amman (1539-1591) was a Swiss-German artist, celebrated chiefly for his woodcuts, done mainly for book illustrations.

Jost Amman was the son of a noted scholar. While he was an artisan, he maintained connections with humanist scholars throughout his career.

Little is known of his early life.  By 1561, he was in working Nuremburg where he became one of northern Europe’s most prolific printmakers and book illustrators.  Amman likely trained with Virgil Solis (1514–1562), himself a prolific printmaker and primary illustrator for Frankfurt publisher Sigmund  Feyerabend (1528–1590). 

Although he maintained his own workshop, Amman worked primarily for Feyerabend, who  He provided Amman with a majority of his commissions as the two collaborated on at least fifty books.  In addition to illustrations, Amman designed other typographic elements in his books including ornamental
borders, initial letters, tailpieces, and printer’s marks, and cut most of his own blocks, at least early in his career, atlhough later he is known to have had had apprentices.  

During his career Amman completed hundreds of designs for dozens of book commissions, from bibles to classics, history to literature, costumes to emblems.  Amman's prints continued to be copied and re-used, becoming pattern books that influenced artists such as Peter Paul Rubens and Rembrandt van Rijn.


Archived

Place/Date:
Frankfurt / 1576
Size:
6 x 4 inches
Condition:
VG
Stock#:
71049