Jost de Negker

He probably moved in that year to Augsburg (certainly before 1512) and worked for Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor on his print projects, as well as cutting blocks from designs by Hans Burgkmair the Elder and others.

[4] In 1512 de Negker wrote a long letter to the Emperor, in itself an indication of his status, which among other things makes it clear that he had been working on Maximilian's projects for some time, and had two assistants, paid via himself.

[6] Giulia Bartrum says that the "Imperial commissions enabled the block-cutter and printer Jost de Negker to raise the status of his profession to an unprecedentedly high level.

In the absence of other evidence, it is not usually worthwhile to speculate on the identity of a cutter based on style or quality,[10] so many single prints cut by Negker during these years probably remain untraceable in the large production of the period.

He is attributed with the cutting of the German chiaroscuro woodcut with the largest number of different colour blocks, a seven-block coat of arms by Hans Weiditz (1520) used as a book frontispiece.

Lovers Surprised by Death , Chiaroscuro woodcut in three colours by Hans Burgkmair , cut by de Negker, 1510. In some states de Negker's name appears below the image.
Woodcut by Hans Burgkmair , c. 1510, cut by Jost de Negker, this hand-coloured impression printed by his son David some decades later - woodcut blocks, if looked after, have a very long life.