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Right, so the world’s a mess, so why don’t we distract ourselves with a little art and a little history? I figured I’d share a little of one of my favourite artists. He wasn’t the most talented, didn’t have a tragic tale, but I still find him fascinating… THREAD 1/ 
Hans Baldung, who would later add ‘Grien’ to his name was born in the German town of Schwäbisch Gmünd, sometime in 1484. Nice place, worth a visit, used to be quite wealthy as a hub of trade. Hans came from an academic family, and did not want for much at all. /2
Hans pretty much had it all - money, talent and looks. Look at that guy, he knows he’s doing fine. He even managed to snag a spot at the workshop of Albrecht Duerer, the greatest German artist of his age. There he learned about engraving, painting and, well, selling yourself. /3
With the invention of the printing press, and more disposable income, engravings became something that an increasing number of people could afford. Not entirely disposable, yet able to be reproduced en masse, they helped artists raise their profile and fund other works. /4
Hans was all about the prints, and released many during the course of his career. Many engravings touched on his pet themes, that we will get to in a minute. However, what you need to know is that they were an early form of mass media, that reflected fascinations of the age. /5
Hans religious prints paid the bills, but where he experimented, and what would prove successful for him, were his prints of nudes, witches, and, well, nude witches. Yeah, Hans was pretty obsessed with them, and not in the way you might think. /6
While Hans would depict women as decrepit (as I’ll get that later), there’s something about his engravings of paintings of witches, drawing on the folklore of his time, that seems quite erotic. These aren’t so much succubi, however, more like… well, women having a good time. /7
Perhaps one of Hans’ most famous paintings is ‘Two Witches’, also called ‘Weather Witches’ (1523). Two nude, full-figured witches appear, one sitting on a goat, the other looking back at the viewer with a rather provocative gaze. Dangerous? Not really. A little naughty? Quite. /8
Baldung’s depictions of witches seem to have a different take on prevailing attitudes. While this wasn’t an age of witch trials, the ‘Malleus Malificarum’, a witch hunting manual came out around the time of his birth and, well, there was fear there - not this cheeky approach. /9
Mortality, death (and sex) seem to be another theme in Hans’ work. ‘Three Ages of Women and the Death (1544)’, ‘Death and the Maiden (1520)’ and ‘The Seven Ages of Women (1544)’ all seem to epitomise an obsession with impermanence, of life itself giving way to death. /10
The cultural and doctrinal shifts that were shaking Europe seem embodied in the range of Baldung’s work. He’s able to embody humanist principles in his take on witches, & mortality, but still had paydays in altarpieces like this one, the St Sebastian Altar in Halle (1507). /11
In fact, Hans was successful his entire life. He moved to Strasbourg (a big deal at the time), married well, and kept on pumping out work until 1545 when he died, with a busy workshop and commissions still coming in. No drama here, just, well, lotsa nudes, lotsa witches. /12
One last thing - he did love his colour. Look at his religious paintings for the sheer deep of colour used. This is another sign of increased trade of the time, bringing pigments from all over the world into places like Strasbourg. This is ‘St John at Patmos’ (1515). /13
If you want to learn more about Hans Baldung Grien, I highly recommend this @nga entry on this artist - hope you enjoyed this! /FIN nga.gov/collection/art…
