Erhard Reuwich

[1] The Peregrinatio in Terram Sanctam or Sanctae Peregrinationes, an incunabulum account of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, by Bernhard von Breydenbach, was published in 1486, with the illustrations drawn by Reuwich.

[2] Breydenbach was a wealthy canon of Mainz Cathedral who made the pilgrimage in 1483–1484, taking with him, as the book explains, Erhard Reuwich of Utrecht, a "skillful artist", to make drawings of the sights.

In December 1486 a "Meister Erhard von Mainz" is recorded as installing stained-glass panels in the "Amtskellerei" in Amorbach in Bavaria; this could be him.

[3] The book also contained panoramas of five other cities: Iraklion, Modon, Rhodes, Corfu and Parenzo, which were visited on the way to the Holy Land.

The book was a bestseller, reprinted thirteen times over the next three decades, including printings in France and Spain, for which the illustration blocks were shipped out to the local printers.

It was first suggested in 1936 that Reuwich should be identified as the Master of the Housebook, a painter and engraver in drypoint, the first artist to use this technique.