The Life of Christ: The Nativity, c. 1480-1490. Schongauer was the most influential graphic artist in Europe in the last quarter of the 15th century. Although the Master E. S. had employed crosshatching in the 1450s and 1460s, it was Schongauer who developed, refined, and perfected the technique. His later work betrays a classical simplicity of design and exquisite beauty that can only be fully appreciated in an exceptional impression such as The Nativity .