Amman, Jost

Swiss engraver, painter. Born in Zurich, he spent most of his career in Nuremberg, where he worked with Virgil Solis, chief illustrator for the Frankfurt publisher Sigmund Feyerabend. He was the youngest son of a noted scholar and Chorherr in Zurich, Johann Jakob Amman, a friend of Ulrich Zwingli and Konrad Gessner. Jost, like his brother Josua (1531-1564), who became a goldsmith, did not take up a scholarly career. Known for his book about Renaissance woodcuts for artists and Illustrators, known as the "Kunstbüchlein," and other works. Comment on works: portraits; master draftsman, etcher, carver