The renowned and versatile Renaissance artist Augustin Hirschvogel was born in Nuremberg in 1503. His father was Nuremberg's most acknowledged glass painter, Veit Hirschvogel the Elder, who cooperated with artists such as Albrecht Dürer and Hans von Kulmbach.
Initially Augustin Hirschvogel studied and worked under his father, after his death in 1525 Augustin Hirschvogel presumably operated his own glass art workshop and joined a pottery studio in 1531, which was specialized in Venetian glassware. For the time between 1536 and 1540 there is proof of Augustin Hirschvogel's activities in Laibach (Ljubljana), where he may have been active as majolica painter. Augustin Hirschvogels diversified activities in arts and crafts has not been completely reconstructed. What is for sure, however, is that he was not only a glass painter and pottery artist, but also a stone cutter for stamps and coats of arms. Additionally, he soon took up fruitful activities in cartography, his circular plan of the Austrian capital is especially worthwhile mentioning in this context.
As of 1544 Augustin Hirschvogel lived in Vienna, where he was predominantly active as hand drawer and etcher. Up until his death he made around 300 graphic works, among them numerous book illustrations. As far as his themes are concerned, the focus was on portraits and genre scenes, but he also made drafts for ornaments, heraldry and handicrafts.
Augustin Hirschvogel gained particular fame in landscape graphic art. Around 150 landscape etchings from after 1543 are known of, in their unique atmospherical value they have been attributed to the so-called Danube School. A group of 35 etchings is very close in appearance to the art of Albrecht Altdorfer and Wolf Huber. It was through the further spread of Augustin Hirschvogel's landscape etchings that the new landscape style of the Altdorfer circle was made popular.
Augustin Hirschvogel died in Vienna in 1553.