Special thanks to the Microsoft Corporation for permission to use following biographical information from Microsoft® Encarta '97:
Hans Baldung (called Grien) was a German Renaissance painter and draftsman, who was considered one of the most original artists of the period. He was born in Weyersheim, Alsace, and began his career as an apprentice of Albrecht Dürer. He spent his working life in Strasbourg and in Freiburg; his altarpiece The Coronation of the Virgin (1516), in Freiburg, is considered his masterpiece.
Baldung's style was realistic yet highly imaginative and individualistic. He has a marked affinity for the color green, and many of his religious scenes, are bathed in a weird, supernatural glow. A series of puzzling, often erotic allegorical and mythological works, exemplified by Death Kissing a Maiden (1517, Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Basle), involve the motif of a female nude threatened by a grotesque skeleton.
Baldung's numerous portraits are known for their sharp characterizations. He also produced many drawings, woodcuts, etchings, prints, and designs for stained glass.
