Little is known about the artistic training of Martin Caldenbach (also Kaldenbach). It is probable that he spent time in Nuremberg and there came into contact with Dürer and his work. In 1504 he took over the workshop of his father, Hans Caldenbach, in Frankfurt am Main. In 1507 he assumed the municipal post of master of weights and measures, inspector of the wine tariff and trade. In 1508 he took the oath of citizenship and married the daughter of Hans Fyoll. Not a single painting can be assuredly attributed to Caldenbach by inscription or documentation. Only graphic works can definitely be ascribed to him: in 1492 a woodcut showing a view of Frankfurt with the king, in 1509 a design for the title-page woodcut for the 'Reformation der Stadt Frankfurt', and in 1513 a depiction for Eucharius Rösslin's 'Der schwangern Frawen und Hebammen Rosegarten' ('The Pregnant Women's and Midwives' Rose Garden'). He probably created works for Jakob Heller in Frankfurt am Main. Caldenbach's works are highly reminiscent of those of Albrecht Dürer, whom he possibly visited in Nuremberg in 1505 before Dürer's second trip to Italy. Dürer mentioned Caldenbach in 1509 in two letters to Jakob Heller, calling him his 'brother-in-law' and praising his judgement in connection with the 'Heller Altar'. In 1510 he produced the painted horologium on the Brückenturm (known from a drawing by Philipp Uffenbach, 1610). In 1517 he is named as a member of the Brotherhood of the Rosary and a 'benefactor' of the Dominican monastery. He died in 1518.
