# Lucas van Leyden artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/lucas-van-leyden/
Profile generated: 2026-04-30T13:05:20.442Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Nationality: Dutch, North Netherlandish
- Movements: Northern Renaissance, Early Dutch genre painting
- Common media: engraving, woodcut, oil painting, drawing

## About Lucas van Leyden

Lucas van Leyden (c. 1494–1533), also known as Lucas Hugensz or Lucas Jacobsz, was a North Netherlandish painter, engraver, and draftsman active in Leiden. Recognized as one of the foremost printmakers of the Northern Renaissance, he produced accomplished engravings and woodcuts that circulated widely across Europe and influenced generations of artists. Van Leyden was among the earliest Dutch practitioners of genre painting, depicting scenes of everyday life alongside biblical and religious narratives. His technical mastery in engraving rivaled that of Albrecht Dürer, with whom he is known to have exchanged work. Born in Leiden and trained in the workshop tradition, he remained based in that city throughout his short career, dying there in the summer of 1533. The RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History and the Library of Congress both maintain authority records for the artist under the variant names Lucas Hugenszoon and Luca di Leida.

## Common works and media

Collectors most frequently encounter Lucas van Leyden's works in the form of copperplate engravings on paper, often depicting religious, mythological, or genre subjects. He also produced woodcuts and a small number of oil paintings on panel. Drawing sheets in pen, ink, and wash are held primarily by museums but occasionally appear at auction. Prints may bear his monogram 'LLL' or 'LVL.' The total lot count in the Appraisily database exceeds 1,600 entries, reflecting the breadth of his graphic oeuvre and the many later copies, reproductive prints, and attributed works in circulation.

## Market and appraisal context

Lucas van Leyden maintains a liquid and well-documented auction market spanning over two decades, with 463 total lots recorded in the Appraisily auction index and 310 of those carrying realized prices. Auction activity stretches from July 2001 through December 2025, with 35 lots appearing in the most recent 12-month window and 46 in the prior 12-month period — indicating steady, ongoing supply. The price distribution is strongly right-skewed: the median realized price is $700, the 25th percentile sits at $400, and the 75th percentile reaches $1,500. The recorded maximum of approximately $14.6 million reflects a top-tier result, almost certainly tied to a rare painting or an exceptionally important engraving in superb condition, and is an extreme outlier relative to the typical print market. The bulk of traded material consists of copperplate engravings from Old Master print specialists, with recent lots at Old Master Print (Karl & Faber, Gonnelli Casa d'Aste) ranging roughly €130–€2,500. Major houses including Christie's, Bonhams, Swann Auction Galleries, Dorotheum, and Karl & Faber all appear among the top-ten observed auction houses, confirming deep institutional demand across North America and Europe.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Lucas van Leyden maintains a liquid and well-documented auction market spanning over two decades, with 463 total lots recorded in the Appraisily auction index and 310 of those carrying realized prices. Auction activity stretches from July 2001 through December 2025, with 35 lots appearing in the most recent 12-month window and 46 in the prior 12-month period — indicating steady, ongoing supply. The price distribution is strongly right-skewed: the median realized price is $700, the 25th percentile sits at $400, and the 75th percentile reaches $1,500. The recorded maximum of approximately $14.6 million reflects a top-tier result, almost certainly tied to a rare painting or an exceptionally important engraving in superb condition, and is an extreme outlier relative to the typical print market. The bulk of traded material consists of copperplate engravings from Old Master print specialists, with recent lots at Old Master Print (Karl & Faber, Gonnelli Casa d'Aste) ranging roughly €130–€2,500. Major houses including Christie's, Bonhams, Swann Auction Galleries, Dorotheum, and Karl & Faber all appear among the top-ten observed auction houses, confirming deep institutional demand across North America and Europe.

### Appraisal notes

An Appraisily appraisal for a Lucas van Leyden work would cross-reference the item against the 463-lot auction record to identify comparable sales by medium, subject, date range, and condition. For engravings — the most commonly traded category — the appraiser would document impression quality (early vs. late state), plate tone, margins, sheet size, watermark evidence, and the presence of the artist's monogram (LLL or LVL). Provenance history, exhibition records, and any catalogue raisonné references would be weighed against realized prices for similar states and conditions. Paintings, drawings, and woodcuts would each require separate comparable sets given their vastly different market profiles. Attribution language matters materially: lots catalogued as 'after,' 'circle of,' or 'follower of' Lucas van Leyden trade at significant discounts to securely attributed originals, and recent lots show examples of both categories.

### Valuation factors

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### Collector notes

- Collectors entering the Lucas van Leyden market will find the most accessible entry point in his engravings, which appear regularly at auction with a median price around $700 and a typical range of $400–$1,500 for standard-quality impressions. Religious subjects — individual apostles, scenes from the Passion — come up frequently and tend toward the lower end of the range. More complex narrative compositions and genre scenes, such as The Dentist or The Promenade, can reach the mid-thousands. The market shows healthy liquidity: 35 lots traded in the last 12 months across at least eight different auction houses in the US, Europe, and Switzerland. Buyers should pay close attention to lot descriptions for attribution qualifiers ('after,' 'suiveur de,' 'attributed to'), which signal works that are not by the artist's own hand and are priced accordingly. For sellers, consigning to a recognized Old Master print specialist rather than a generalist house typically yields better results. Condition reports, high-resolution photographs of the plate mark and margins, and any catalogue raisonné references should be assembled before consignment.

### Market caveats

- The maximum recorded price of approximately $14.6 million is a severe outlier; the vast majority of lots trade below $2,500 and the collector should not assume comparable value without confirmation of medium, attribution, and provenance.
- Lot titles in the auction record include works catalogued as 'after' Lucas van Leyden, reproductive prints by later artists (e.g., J. Strixner after Leyden), and follower/circle attributions — these are not originals and trade at lower values.
- Prices are denominated in mixed currencies (USD, EUR, CHF); currency conversion is not applied in the raw data and actual comparability requires adjustment.
- The recent 12-month lot count (35) is below the prior 12-month count (46), which may reflect normal market variability rather than a structural decline in demand.
- Category and subject fields are sparse in the source data; valuation analysis relies on lot titles rather than structured category tagging.
- Birth year remains disputed (c. 1489 vs. c. 1494), which can affect dating and attribution of early works and should be noted in formal appraisals.

### Market evidence sources

- undefined: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/lucas-van-leyden/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-lucas-van-leyden-st-philip-1510-115-c-a135eb9376
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-lucas-van-leyden-st-peter-1510-114-c-edcf0a9164
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-lucas-van-leyden-st-john-the-evangelist-1510-113-c-70edc6aa4a
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-lucas-van-leyden-st-matthew-1510-112-c-0eee7c38ba
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-lucas-van-leyden-1494-1533-st-mark-1518-108-c-e07cdd4e18

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine structured artist-identity research from library authority files and art-historical databases with auction records, auction-house cataloguing, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Lucas van Leyden, identity data is grounded in the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, the Library of Congress Linked Data Service, VIAF, and Wikidata.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q320980
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucas_van_Leyden
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/95809141/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79043330
- RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/49843