Augustin Hirschvogel 1503-1553
River landscape with a stout tree
Etching, 1546
Given by the Friends of the Fitzwilliam with the aid of a contribution from the Art Fund 1993

Born in Nuremberg, Hirschvogel moved in 1544 to Vienna, where he was engaged as a cartographer, mathematician, stained-glass painter and etcher by the city, court and private patrons. He was the first artist to create aerial perspective by etching varied strengths of line in copper. This allowed him to produce a more sophisticated and atmospheric range of marks than had been available to the pioneering landscape etchers of the previous generation. His sketches were made on trips around Passau, at the confluence of the rivers Inn and Danube.