The younger brother of
Hans Sebald Beham, he was born into a family of
artists in
Nuremberg. Learning his art from his elder brother, and
Albrecht Dürer, he was particularly active as an engraver during the 1520s, creating tiny works of magnificent detail, positioning him in the German printmaking school known as the "
Little Masters". He was also fascinated with antiquity and may have worked with
Marcantonio Raimondi in
Bologna and
Rome at some time in his career. In 1525, along with his brother and
Georg Pencz, the so-called
"godless painters", he was banished from
Lutheran Nuremberg for asserting his disbelief in
baptism,
Christ, or
transubstantiation. Although later pardoned, he moved to
Catholic Munich to work for the
Bavarian dukes
William IV and Ludwig X. Whilst there, his exceptional talent established him as one of Germany's principal portrait painters, favoured by distinguished patrons such as Emperor
Charles V. According to
Joachim von Sandrart, he died in
Italy during a trip under the patronage of Duke William. ==Gallery==