Ludger tom, the Younger Ring

1522 – 1583

German painter, son of Ludger tom Ring the Elder. He proclaimed himself a Protestant, unlike his brother Hermann. He did not repudiate his family, however; he was apparently apprenticed to his father and stayed in the family home and then with Hermann until at least 1555. Evidence connects him with the painter and graphic artist Heinrich Aldegrever, another Protestant. In the 1540s he may have travelled as a journeyman in the northern Netherlands and perhaps even to England. This is indicated by a narrow half-length Self-portrait (1547; Essen, Villa Högel) showing him holding a brush and palette, inscribed with the day and hour of his birth and 31 [sic] November 1547 as the date of painting, and with words consigning his art to the praise and glory of God. A man in the background holds a letter that identifies him as Josef Hesset of the Steelyard in London, implying that Ludger had spent some time in London, where he may have been familiar with works by Holbein. He painted mainly portraits, but also still-lifes that were influenced by Dutch artists.

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