Sebald Hirschvogel (Hirsvogel) was a member of the famous Nuremberg glass-painting dynasty established by Veit Hirschvogel the Elder (1461–1525) in the time of Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528). Under the formative influence of Dürer, Nuremberg glass-painting experienced a period of exceptional blossoming and outstanding significance, all across Frankish lands.

Sebald was a grandson of Veit Hirschvogel the Elder, and son of Veit Hirsvogel the Younger (1487–1553). For thirty-three years, he was glass-painter to the city of Nuremberg, and in 1573 was a juror. In 1557–68, having been commissioned by Leonhard I Tucher, he glazed a window in the church of St Bartholomew in Wöhrd, a former suburb of Nuremberg, with six painted panels and six further panels.

With the advent of the Reformation in Nuremberg, the deaths of Veit Hirsvogel the Elder and Albrecht Dürer not long afterwards, the major commissions dried up, and there was no recovery thereafter. Work consisted only of repairs to existing windows, small commissions for votive donations, and armorial panels.

Literature

For the current status of publications on Nuremberg glass-painting, see the publication of Hartmut Scholz

Articles on the life and work of Augustin Hirsvogels (1503–1553), with an overview of the whole glass-painter family may be found in the NEUE DEUTSCHE BIOGRAPHIE (12.11.2014)