Kulmbach, Hans von

(Hans Süss; c. 1480-1522)

   German painter from Albrecht Dürer's workshop where he was active in c. 1500. Kulmbach became a citizen of Nuremberg in 1511 and in 1514-1516 he is documented in Krakow, Poland, where he painted several altarpieces. His Tucher Altarpiece (1513; Nuremberg, Church of Sebald) shows Dürer's influence in the solidity and monumentality of the figures. The work is a sacra conversazione type with the Virgin and Child surrounded by saints. Venetian influence, learned through Dürer, is clearly discerned in the work, particularly in the inclusion of the landscape as backdrop, the isolation of the Virgin and Child from the other figures through architecture, and the Bellini-like musical angels at their feet. A versatile master, Kulmbach also rendered landscapes and portraits. An example of the former is the Calling of St. Peter in the Florence Uffizi (1514-1516), an evocative work filled with atmospheric effects. An example of his portraiture is the Margrave Casimir of Brandenburg (1511; Munich, Alte Pinakothek), with the sitter's heraldic devices prominently displayed to articulate clearly his social standing.