(b Kaufbeuren, c. 1470; d Augsburg, 1536). In 1493 he gained rights as a citizen of Augsburg and was added to the city’s roster of painters and register of taxpayers. He married in 1497. He was recorded as always financially solvent, after 1505 owning his own house. Working in Augsburg during the city’s patronage as a leading humanist centre by Maximilian I, Hopfer was probably the first etcher of armour to pull impressions of etchings on paper. He was known as a designer of ornamental etchings that were applied to armour made in Augsburg, though it is not clear whether he actually etched on the armour; in most cases he probably handed his designs over to armourers who manually applied and etched the ornament. The one surviving piece of signed Hopfer armour, a shield, dates from the year of his death (1536; Madrid, Real Armeria).

Part of the Hopfer family

• Hopfer, Daniel
  • Arms and armour, §II, 1(ii): European edged weapons, 1450–1630
  • Hopfer
  • patrons and collectors
    • Augsburg, §2: Art life and organization
  • works
    • Etching, §II, 1(i): Origins: Germany and the Netherlands
    • Germany, §III, 2(ii)(c): Renaissance painting and graphic arts: Augsburg as artistic centre
    • Germany, §VI, 1: Furniture, before 1510
    • Prints, §II, 1(ix): Subject-matter, before c 1700: Ornamental