durer

Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) was a German painter, printmaker, and theorist of the Northern Renaissance, best known for his high-quality woodcuts and engravings. Born in Nuremberg, he established a workshop that produced paintings, drawings, and a prolific output of prints. He trained with the painter and woodcutter Michael Wolgemut and undertook study trips that brought Italian Renaissance ideas into Northern European art, influencing his attention to naturalism, perspective, and proportion.

Among his best-known works are the woodcut series The Apocalypse (c. 1498–1499), the engravings Knight, Death and the Devil (c. 1513) and Melencolia I (c. 1514), Saint Jerome in His Study (c. 1514), Adam and Eve (1504), and the Four Apostles (1526). He also produced numerous meticulously detailed drawings and portraits, including several self-portraits that chart his changing self-image over time.

Beyond making art, Dürer wrote on measurement, perspective, and proportion, contributing to the theoretical framework of Renaissance art. His integrated approach—combining observation, mathematical precision, and humanist ideas—helped elevate printmaking to a respected artistic medium in Europe. Dürer remained based in Nuremberg for most of his life and died there in 1528, leaving a lasting influence on European art and on later generations of Northern artists.