Hans Wydyz
Hans Wydyz or Weiditz the Elder (c.1470–1520) was a sculptor and artist operating in Germany in the early 16th century. His work is usually signed H. W. near the base. He sculpted mainly in wood and also created woodcuts. His work is not only highly accurate on a technical level, but is also abnormally charged with emotion, usually due to the expression on faces, hand gestures, poses etc. Life. Hans Wydyz the Elder is thought to come from the Upper Rhine region of Germany, probably born in or near Strasbourg, as his work appears to evolve from the  Strasbourg tradition. He was probably the son of the wood engraver Bartholomaus Wydyz or Weiditz from Meissen. He was active in the late 15th and early 16th centuries mainly in Saxony and (Freiburg im Breisgau) and later in Strasbourg. From 1497 to 1510 he lived with his wife in Augustinergasse (now Grunwalderstrasse) in Freiburg His sculpture of Adam and Eve in boxwood and linden dates from around 1505 and is one of the first small scale sculptures of these figures. It was possibly made for domestic purposes, as it is carved in the round, and designed to be seen  from all sides. The statue was once in the ownership of Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands. Hans Sixt succeeded him in Freiburg and was probably trained by him. In his later years he worked in partnership with Hans Baldung, probably with Baldung painting the figues carved by Wydyz. He died in Freiburg im Breisgau in 1536. Family. It is not so much the commonality of the names which demonstrates that the Wydyz/Weiditz artists were all related, but the commonality of the artistic talent, which is clearly linked. His sons were Hans Weiditz the Younger (c.1495-1537 ) and Christoph Weiditz (1498-1560). His sons were less skilled than the father and mainly worked in 2-dimensions, mainly low relief and woodcuts.