Biography for Lucas van Leyden

Education

Lucas van Leyden was the pupil of his father, Hugo Jacobsz and of Cornelis Engelbrechtsz (1468-1533) who were both painters whereas Lucas himself was principally an engraver. It is unknown as to where he learnt this skill. In 1514 he entered the Painters' Guild at Leiden.

Travels

Visits are recorded to Antwerp in 1521, the year of Dürer's Netherlandish journey, and to Middelburg in 1527.

Employment

Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) was the single greatest influence on him, but Lucas tended to concentrate on the anecdotal features of the subject and to take delight in caricatures and genre motifs. Lucas had a great reputation in his day, making etchings and woodcuts as well as engravings and was a prolific draughtsman. His status as a painter is less elevated, but he was undoubtedly one of the outstanding Netherlandish painters of his period and a pioneer of the Netherlandish genre tradition.