Biography

German painter, designer and woodcutter of Netherlandish birth. He was probably the son of the painter Hillebrant van Reewijk, who worked for the Buurkerk in Utrecht between 1456 and 1465 and in 1470 was Dean of the Utrecht guild. In 1483 Erhard accompanied Graaf Johann zu Solms-Lich, the Ritter Philipp von Bicken and Bernard von Breydenbach, chamberlain to the Archbishop of Mainz, on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In 1486 Peregrinationes in terram sanctam, written by Breydenbach and illustrated with woodcuts by Reuwich, was published and became highly popular as a travel guide. The woodcuts, which fold out to show townscapes, including Venice and Jerusalem, made this publication technically as well as artistically an exceptional achievement. The title page, with a richly dressed Venetian lady, and other smaller woodcuts showing inhabitants of the Holy Land, are similar in style to prints by the Master of the Housebook.