SCHÖN, Erhard

German woodcut designer and painter. He was the son of Marx Schön III, a minor Nuremberg painter, with whom he probably began his training. Then he studied Albrecht Dürer’s prints while living in the artist’s house for several years. Scholars have attributed some 1,200 illustrations for 116 books and about 200 separate woodcuts to Erhard Schön, making him one of the era’s most prolific woodblock designers. His works enjoyed tremendous popularity.

Between 1513 and c. 1524 the majority of his woodcuts illustrated religious books. In 1515 he and Hans Springinklee, a collaborator of Dürer, made high quality woodcuts for the Hortulus animae, the most popular pre-reformation anthology of prayers. When Schön adopted Lutheranism in the mid-1520s, he began designing woodcuts for anti-Catholic books and broadsheets.

From the mid-1530s Schön’s interests changed. He depicted classical themes, which may have been conceived for a print series. In 1538 he published a book on figural design, movement, and correct spatial placement. He also made several paintings, signed drawings, and designed a fountain.