2026-07-072026-07-07http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/139916We present a variational principle governing the quasistatic evolution of a linearized elastoplastic material. In case of linear hardening, the novel characterization allows to recover and partly extend some known results and proves itself to be especially well-suited for discussing general approximation and convergence issues. In particular, the variational principle is exploited in order to prove in a novel setting the convergence of time and space-time discretizations as well as to provide some possible a posteriori error control.29 pages, 1 figureAnalysis of PDEs35K55; 49S05; 74C05text