Do you remember the head of a man from the Renaissance, which once adorned the 50-Mark note of the Federal Republic of Germany with a determined look? This was a detail of the portrait of Hans Urmiller painted by Barthel Beham, one of the most remarkable German artists of the 16th century. Together with his young son, the man still stands before us today, very much alive and tastefully dressed - and can be admired in the Städel in Frankfurt.
Already at a young age, the Nuremberg artist Barthel Beham distinguished himself as the creator of strikingly masterful copperplate engravings. He is a much younger contemporary of Albrecht Dürer, and his expressive portraits of patricians and noble rulers are also influenced by him. Beham was in productive competition with the great master, but was more rebellious than the latter. He joined the radical reformers around Thomas Müntzer and followed their social-revolutionary slogans, only to be banished from the city in disgrace. Beham went to Munich and from then on he dedicated his skills to the rulers: He became court painter to the humanistically minded Duke of Bavaria, who supported him extensively. Finely dressed ladies and gentlemen of the Munich patriciate preferred to have their portraits painted by this Nuremberg master: The women showed themselves with their splendid bonnets, furs and chains, sometimes even with their pets, like the famous woman with parrot. Among the men, the thoughtful, almost psychologizing look is particularly striking. The painted or engraved portraits were intended to preserve the memory of these personalities even after their death, this was a typical thought during the Renaissance. Thus the important Bavarian politician Leonhard von Eck was portrayed both in the painting and in the high-circulation copperplate engraving by Barthel Beham. The master created works that were intended to please humanistically educated art collectors. On one of these enigmatic panel paintings we see a naked young woman who - still unnoticed - is already embraced by death. Nothing is more transient than the beauty of youth, which is drastically underlined by the body of a woman in a shroud behind her. A Memento Mori of a disturbing nature!
When Emperor Charles V and his brother Ferdinand stayed in Munich, they too became aware of the master's arts and had their portraits painted by him. Duke Wilhelm IV still had a lot in store for his promising young court painter, so he sent him to Italy, where he was to further perfect his art. But there Beham was struck by a serious illness, which he died of at the age of 38. Had he lived longer, we might perhaps have called him Grien in the same breath as Dürer or Hans Baldung, but instead he has remained an unfortunately relatively unknown genius to this day, a genius to be discovered.
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.jpg "Judith, Seated Nude with a Sword in Her Right Hand, Gazing Down at the Head of Holofernes, 1523 by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Portrait of Ferdinand I of Habsburg, 1531 by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Portrait of Hans Urmiller and His Son by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Footsoldier in front of a Tree by Barthel Beham")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1073065).jpg "The Sacrifice of Isaac by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Genius Riding on a Ball, 1520 by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Portrait of Margaret Urmiller, née Schwab, and Her Daughter by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Battle of Naked Men by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Judith, half-length and in profile to the left, a sword in her right hand and the head of Holofernes by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Judith, looking towards the right, seated nude atop the dead body of Holofernes, 1525 by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Naked Woman Sitting on Armor by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Cimon and Pero, mid-17th century by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Jakobäa of Baden by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Child with Three Skulls by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Virgin and Child by the Window by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Virgin at the Window by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Battle for the Banner by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Peasant Couple Dancing by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Portrait of Ottheinrich, Prince of Pfalz by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Naked Child, Seen From Back Seated in Front of a Vessel by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Mother and Child with Skull and Hourglass, c. 1528-1530 by Barthel Beham")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1665717).jpg "Portrait of a Referee Noting Points in a Game by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Titus Gracchus by Barthel Beham")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1359424).jpg "Sleeping Child with Hourglass and Four Skulls (Mors Omnia Aeqvat) by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Lucretia Standing at a Column by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Judith Seated on the Body of Holofernes by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Emperor Charles V by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Dead Child with Four Skulls by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Naked Child Seen from Back Seated in Front of a Vessel by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Apollo and Daphne (reverse copy) by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Standard Bearer with Raised Left Hand by Barthel Beham")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1384605).jpg "Sleeping Child with Hourglass and Four Skulls by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Emperor Charles V by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Portrait of Emperor Ferdinand I by Barthel Beham")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1246785).jpg "Naked Woman on an Armor (Prudentia?) by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Sleeping Child with Four Skulls by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Leonard von Eckh by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "The Legend of the Holy Cross by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Erasmus Balderman by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Chancellor Leonhard von Eck 1480-1550, 1527 by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Der Welt Lauf Sleeping Justice (copy) by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Vanity by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Erasmus Balderman by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Adam and Eve, engraved by Hans Sebald Beham, 1543 by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "B. Beham, Woman with Parrot by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Boy Stepping to the Right over Banderoles by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Mary Sitting with Child Standing on Lap by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Portrait of Charles Quint by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "St. Christopher by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Ursula von Weichs by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Child with Three Skulls by Barthel Beham")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1665713).jpg "Portrait of a Woman with Parrot by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Judgment of Paris Copy, 16th Century by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "The Virgin with Child and Vase by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Death of Lucretia by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Portrait of Hans Urmiller and his Son by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "The Miser and the Miscarriage by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Portrait of Ursula Rudolph by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Judith with the Head of Holofernes and Sword by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Two Boys Playing with a Dog, mid-16th century by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Foot-Soldier in Front of a Tree by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Ferdinand I by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Two Fighting Tritons by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Judith with the Head of Holofernes and Sword by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Erasmus Balderman by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Ornament with a Male Half-Length Between Two Genii by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Battle of Naked Men by Barthel Beham")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1240720).jpg "Sleeping Justice by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Emperor Ferdinand I by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Madonna with Skull by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Mary with Child at Breast and Skull by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Leonhard von Eck by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Mother with Two Children by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Portrait of a Woman by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Portrait of Ruprecht Stüp by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Genius on a Globe Floating in the Air by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Emperor Ferdinand I by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Cleopatra by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Saint Christopher by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Madonna with Skull by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Judith by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Bending Soldier Leaning against a Tree by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Bookplate of Hieronymus Baumgartner by Barthel Beham")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1384632).jpg "Death of Cleopatra with Snake by a Fig Tree by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Peasant Woman with Two Jugs by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Child with Three Skulls by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Portrait of Louis X Bavaria by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Bookplate of Hieronymous Baumgärtner by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "The Abduction of Helen by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Genius on a Globe Floating in the Air, Mid-17th Century by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Portrait of Magdalena Pittrichin by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Erasmus Balderman by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Saint Christopher by Barthel Beham")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1359978).jpg "Flora by Barthel Beham")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1665531).jpg "Vanitas by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Emperor Charles V by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Ferdinand I by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Genius Riding on a Ball by Barthel Beham")
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.jpg "Emperor Charles V by Barthel Beham")
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