A prolific painter, draftsman, and etcher, Rembrandt is usually regarded as the greatest artist of Holland's "Golden Age."

German engraver and painter, active in Colmar, Alsace. In his day he was probably the most famous artist in Germany; it was in his workshop that the young Dürer hoped to study, but when he arrived in Colmar in 1492 the master had recently died. Only one painting certainly by Schongauer survives - Madonna in the Rose Garden, and he is remembered chiefly as an engraver, the greatest of his period.

His work was strongly influenced by Netherlandish art, above all by Rogier van der Weyden, but Schongauer had a powerful imagination of his own. He concentrated on religious subjects and about 115 plates by him are known. In them he brought a new richness and maturity to engraving, expanding the range of tones and textures, so that an art that had previously been the domain of the goldsmith took on a more painterly quality. The gracefulness of his work became legendary, giving rise to the nicknames 'Hübsch (charming) Martin' and 'Schön (beautiful) Martin'.

The main work of Schongauer's life was the production of a large number of beautiful engravings, which were largely sold, not only in Germany, but also in Italy and even in England. Giorgio Vasarisays that Michelangelo copied one of his engravings -- the "Trial of St Anthony." Schongauer was known in Italy by the names "Bel Martino" and "Martino d'Anversa." His subjects are always religious; more than 130 prints from copper by his hand are known, and about 100 more are the production of his bottega.

Below are just a few of Rembrandt's Prints:

Martin Schongauer, ‘The Temptation of St Anthony’, a copperplate engraving Germany, AD 1470s (state II), 1655; etching

Martin Schongauer, ‘Christ bearing the Cross’, a copperplate engraving; Germany; AD 1480-85

‘The Death of the Virgin’, a copperplate engraving; Germany, Late AD 1470s