# Georg Pencz artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/georg-pencz/
Profile generated: 2026-05-11T20:22:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Nationality: German
- Movements: German Renaissance
- Common media: engraving, painting, printmaking, drawing, tapestry design

## About Georg Pencz

Georg Pencz (c. 1500–1550) was a German painter, engraver, printmaker, and tapestry designer active in Nuremberg and later Wrocław. One of the notable German Renaissance artists working in the first half of the sixteenth century, Pencz is recognized for his accomplished engravings and paintings. He worked across a broad range of media, including panel painting, copperplate engraving, drawing, and tapestry design, serving as court painter later in his career. Born in Nuremberg around 1500–1502, Pencz married Margaretha Graf, daughter of the painter Michel Graf, in 1529. He died in Wrocław in October 1550. His work is documented in the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, the Getty Union List of Artist Names, and multiple international library authority files, confirming his standing as a significant figure in German Renaissance visual arts.

## Common works and media

Collectors are most likely to encounter Pencz through his copperplate engravings, which include small-scale religious compositions, mythological scenes, and portrait studies. His painted works—primarily panels with religious or allegorical subjects—appear far less frequently. Drawings in pen and ink or chalk also surface at auction, as do designs for tapestry. Prints may exist in multiple impressions with varying states, so plate condition, paper quality, and margins are important points of examination. Works attributed to Pencz's workshop or circle also appear in the market and should be distinguished from securely autograph pieces.

## Market and appraisal context

Georg Pencz's work appears regularly in the Old Master print and drawing market. His engravings constitute the largest share of offered lots, while paintings by his hand are comparatively rare and command greater attention when they surface. For collectors and appraisers, the key factors affecting value include the quality and condition of the impression (for prints), confirmed attribution versus circle-of or follower-of designations, provenance history, and subject matter. Pencz's work is catalogued under name variants including Benntz, Penz, and Prenntz, which can complicate auction searches and attribution review. Specialist consultation is recommended for any painting attributed to Pencz, given the scarcity of securely attributed painted works.

## Appraisily data basis

This artist page combines identity research from authority files and art-historical databases—including the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, the Getty Union List of Artist Names, VIAF, and Wikidata—with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. Biographical data reflects the current scholarly consensus as recorded in these sources.

## Sources

- RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/62515
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q698624
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500006353
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/64120782/
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Pencz
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n81136761