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| Albrecht Durer |
| 1471-1528 |
| European Artist |
| Durer was born on 21 May, 1471 in Nuremberg, south Germany, son of a prosperous goldsmith. His early training was in drawing, woodcutting and printing, which were to remain his main and favorite media throughout his artistic career. 1486 through 1489 he was apprenticed in the workshop of Nuremberg artist Michael Wolgemut. Durer's training also involved travel and study abroad. He went to Italy in 1494, and returned again in 1505-6. Contact with Italian painters resonated deeply in his art. Influenced by Venetian artists, who were renowned for the richness of their palette, Durer placed greater importance on color in his paintings. Durer was also a great admirer of Leonardo da Vinci. He was intrigued by the Italian master's studies of the human figure, and after 1506 applied and adapted Leonardo's proportions to his own figures, as is evident in his drawings. Durer is the greatest exponent of Northern European Renaissance art. While an important painter, in his own day Durer was renowned foremost for his graphic works. Artists across Europe admired and copied Durer's innovative and powerful prints, ranging from religious and mythological scenes, to maps and exotic animals. Later in his life, he illustrated and wrote theoretical treatises instructing artists in perspective and proportion. |
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