Zwei junge Männer - two portraits by Georg Pencz

Portrait of a Young Man Aged Eighteen, circa 1544.

Portrait of a Man Aged Twenty-eight, 1549.

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Georg Pencz (c. 1500 – 11 October 1550), German painter and engraver. Probably born in Westheim, he travelled to Nuremberg in 1523 where he joined the atelier of Albrecht Dürer. Like Dürer, he visited Italy and was profoundly influenced by Venetian art. In 1525, he was imprisoned with the brothers Barthel Beham and Hans Sebald Beham, the so-called "godless painters", for spreading the radical views of Thomas Müntzer. The three were pardoned shortly afterwards and became part of the group known as the "Little Masters" because of their tiny, intricate, and influential prints. Influenced by works he had seen in Italy, he also painted a number of trompe-l'œil ceilings in the houses of patrician families. Around 1539, he briefly returned to Italy, visiting Rome before returning to Nuremberg, where he became the city painter and earned his greatest success as a portraitist. In 1550, he was named court painter by Albrecht, Duke of Prussia, but died in Leipzig before arriving at the court.