Urs Graf
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Urs Graf (born 1485 in Solothurn, Switzerland; died after 1529) was a Swiss Renaissance painter and engraver.
Graf learned his profession first from his father, Hugo Graf, then from a goldsmith in Zürich. He initially earned money as a designer of book illustrations and by assisting a stained glass painter. In 1512, he became a member of the goldsmith guild and a citizen of Basel. He quickly came in conflict with the law for abusing his wife and supporting prostitution, cumulating in attempted murder, making him leave the city in 1518. He was reinvited to Basel one year later and continued working. In 1527, he vanished from the city, never to be found again, though a signed drawing from 1529 exists.
Like many Swiss men of his day, Graf was also known for abandoning work and family to pursue military endeavours as a mercenary. His artistic work, in the tradition of Albrecht Dürer and Hans Baldung, somehow followed his "other interests", depicting (besides the political situation) social, erotic, and violent scenes -- for example, Two Prostitutes Beating a Monk, though a strong religious aspect emerges sometimes. He is among the first to use the white-line engraving technique.
