Brief Biography-Benjamin Block was born in Lübeck to a family of artists; his father, Daniel, was a painter who was in the service of the Prince of Mecklenburg for forty-four years. His brothers were also painters.
Benjamin's first noted work was a fine drawing of the Duke of Mecklenburg, and his subsequent paintings gained him a standing reputation throughout Germany.
He travelled to Hungary, where he painted Count Ferenc Nádasdy and Princess Anna Julianna Eszterházy. However, the bulk of his work in Hungary was for altarpieces in churches and convents.
He spent a considerable amount of time in Italy studying and perfecting his technique before returning to Germany. He stayed in Nuremberg, where the prime nobility of the region commissioned him to do portraits. The Elector of the Court of Saxony engaged him to paint pictures of himself and his family.
His most famous painting was of Athanasius Kircher, the Jesuit. His wife, Anna Catharina Fischer, was an artist who excelled in painting flowers.