← Fame through time1500-1599
The 16th century
Whose working lives fell in the 16th century. Books are measured from 1800 and readers from 2015, so for this period we can say who lived then, not who was talked about then.
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 16th century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Albrecht Dürer22 decades - 2
Hans Holbein the Younger18 decades - 3
Lucas Cranach the Elder6 decades - 4
Matthias Grünewald1 decades - 5
Albrecht Altdorfer19 decades - 6
Hans Holbein the Elder5 decades - 7
Hans Baldung20 decades - 8
Hans Burgkmair the Elder0 decades - 9
Jost Amman5 decades - 10
Hans Sebald Beham19 decades - 11
Heinrich Aldegrever14 decades - 12
Barthel Beham14 decades - 13Daniel Hopfer12 decades
- 14
Bartholomaeus Bruyn the Elder0 decades - 15
Georg Pencz16 decades - 16
Hans von Kulmbach16 decades - 17
Cesare da Sesto4 decades - 18Jörg Breu the Elder0 decades
- 19
Christoph Amberger14 decades - 20
Hans Leonhard Schäufelein1 decades - 21
Hans Dürer the Youngernot measured- - 22
Hans Rottenhammer0 decades - 23Jerg Ratgeb1 decades
- 24
Augustin Hirschvogel16 decades - 25
Hans Muelich10 decades - 26
Hans Cranach3 decades - 27
Simon VI, Count of Lippe10 decades - 28
Hans Maler zu Schwaz0 decades - 29
Wenzel Jamnitzer13 decades - 30
Master of the Life of the Virgin12 decades - 31
Gregor Erhart9 decades - 32
Conrat Meit1 decades - 33
Peter Flötner14 decades - 34
Wendel Dietterlin4 decades - 35
Christoph Weiditz the Eldernot measured- - 36
Hans Krell0 decades - 37
Hans Hoffmann14 decades - 38
Jacob Binck0 decades - 39
Hans Weiditz11 decades - 40
Leonhard Beck0 decades - 41
Erhard Schön12 decades - 42
Christoph Schwarz2 decades - 43
Friedrich Sustris11 decades - 44
Hans Brüggemannnot measured- - 45
Ludger Tom Ring the Youngernot measured- - 46
Master of the Aachen Altar0 decades - 47
Rueland Frueauf the Younger0 decades - 48Martin Schaffner17 decades
- 49
Hans Leinbergernot measured- - 50
Hans Wertingernot measured- - 51
Hans Lützelburgernot measured- - 52
Master of the Schotten Altarpiecenot measured- - 53
Hans Backoffennot measured- - 54
Erhard Altdorfernot measured- - 55
Anton Eisenhoitnot measured- - 56
Matthäus Greuternot measured- - 57
Augustin Cranachnot measured- - 58
Anton Woensamnot measured- - 59Wolf Trautnot measured-
- 60Master of the Drapery Studiesnot measured-
- 61
Hans Bocksberger the Eldernot measured- - 62
Michael Ostendorfernot measured- - 63Adam van Dürennot measured-
- 64Jörg Breu the Youngernot measured-
- 65
Hans Wechtlinnot measured- - 66
Ludger tom Ring the Eldernot measured- - 67Bartlmä Dill Riemenschneidernot measured-
- 68
Georg Lembergernot measured- - 69
Sigmund Holbeinnot measured- - 70
Sigmund Feyerabendnot measured- - 71
Barthel Bruyn the Youngernot measured- - 72
Hans Sebald Lautensacknot measured- - 73Benedikt Dreyernot measured-
- 74
Hans Döringnot measured- - 75
Master of Saint Severinnot measured- - 76Hieronymus Hopfernot measured-
How to read these rankings
- Attention, not reputation. A place on these lists reflects the attention a person still draws in the public record. It is not a judgement on the life.
- Fame in print. The curves show how often a name appeared in the books of each decade from 1800 to 2019, drawn from the Google Books Ngram corpus.
- Gaps are left as gaps. Where the record is too thin to be fair, we would rather show nothing than guess.