Born in 1489 or 1494 in Leiden; died there in 1533. Dutch painter and engraver, a representative of the Dutch Renaissance.

Lucas van Leyden studied with his father, Huygh Jacobsz (1504-08), and with Cornelis Engelbrechtsen. He very early mastered the art of line engraving on copper (Muhammad With the Monk, 1508; David and Saul, 1509). Later he did etchings and woodcuts. His graphic works, which were filled with the tension of artistic strivings, reflect the influence of A. Diirer, whom Lucas knew personally. From the late 1520’s his prints showed the influence of Italian Renaissance engraving, particularly the work of Marcantonio Raimondi (The Milkmaid, 1510; Dance of the Magdalene, 1519; The Poet Virgil Suspended in a Basket, 1523).

Lucas’ portraits and paintings of genre scenes are marked by a keen interest in the human personality (The Chess Players, c. 1508-10, Dahlem Museum, Berlin; Self-portrait, c. 1514, Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig; Portrait of a Man, c. 1521, National Gallery, London). In his religious compositions, such as Sermon in Church (c. 1521, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) and the triptych Healing of the Blind Man (1531, Hermitage, Leningrad), a strong interest in everyday details is oddly combined with a mannerist stylization of the figures’ movements and poses. Lucas van Leyden was also a miniature painter and an outstanding graphic artist.