Urs Graf

Urs Graf the Elder ( * 1485 in Solothurn, † before 13 October 1528) was a glass painter, engraver and designer of woodcuts and goldsmith.

Besides his work as a craftsman in Basel and Solothurn Graf led an adventurous, wild life as a mercenary. Artistic creation Grafs has a high quality in the context of Renaissance art in Switzerland. From its stained-glass windows, almost nothing has received. For the resultant drawings, engravings and drawings for the woodcuts are mostly about morals images, depictions of life in the camp of the mercenaries and genre figures in earthy, sensual conception. Noteworthy are its dynamic brushwork and a certain ironic distance in his prints that resemble the vibrancy and freshness of the representation of Hans Holbein the Younger. By 2011, about 160 sheets could be assigned to his graphic work.

Urs Graf the Elder was the father of Urs Graf the Younger.