Frantz Friderich

Frantz Friderich (* around 1520 in East Germany ; † 1584 in Frankfurt (Oder) ) was a German medalist, wood cutter and copper engraver.

Life

As a graphic designer, Friderich came from the workshop group of Lucas Cranach the Elder and Lucas Cranach the Younger in Wittenberg . After the Wittenberg surrender , he fled to the university city of Frankfurt (Oder). Presumably he had previously learned the art of medals from Hans Schenck and quickly found a job in Frankfurt that made him famous at the Brandenburg court, the Brandenburg nobility and the Brandenburg University districts.

There he gained an excellent reputation and was called to the courts in Krakow , Königsberg (Prussia) , Gottorf , Braunschweig-Lüneburg , Stettin , Mecklenburg , Anhalt-Dessau and the county of Stolberg . He was also entrusted with work by ecclesiastical courts such as Mainz and Halberstadt . Numerous foam coins , woodcuts and copperplate engravings are known from him, most of them depicting the portrait of the recipient. Its importance therefore extends beyond the regional and local level.

Friderich was also the chief graphic artist for Johann Eichorn's offices and created the book decorations for him that were common in the late Renaissance. Particularly noteworthy are his work on “Fraw Musica” (1573), in which the artistic expressiveness of his work is expressed and makes him stand out over time. Standing on the border to the baroque, he handed down the heads of his time as a draftsman with great expressiveness, which are nevertheless modest and realistic in their simplicity.

literature

• Heinrich Grimm:  Friderich, Frantz. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1961, ISBN 3-428-00186-9 , p. 436 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Heinrich Grimm: The medalist, wood cutter and copper engraver Frantz Friderich. An East German book graphic artist of the 16th century. In: Gutenberg yearbook. 1956, ISSN  0072-9094 , pp. 205-215.