Together with Albrecht Dürer and Marcantonio Raimondi, Lucas van Leyden is the most famous engraver of the Renaissance. Art theoretician Karel van Mander wrote in 1604 that the artist, a child prodigy born in Leiden, Holland, had already made his first dated engraving at the age of 14.

The exhibition presents a rich selection of around 100 prints from the holdings of the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung in Munich. They make Lucas van Leyden’s artistic process transparent and offer profound insight into his visual world. He is known for his delicate engraving technique: the subtle gradations of grey with which he produced spatial depth and atmospheric mood fascinated fellow artists and collectors early on, including Rembrandt. And even today his imaginative storytelling – through original interpretations of traditional themes as well as new and unconventional subjects – can cast a spell on the viewer.