Albrecht Durer was a painter and printmaker from Germany. He was active during the German Renaissance and produced engravings, prints, paintings, and books.
Facts About Albrecht Durer
- Albrecht Durer was born in 1471in Nuremberg (now in Germany, then a free city in the Holy Roman Empire).
- His parents had 18 children, but only Albrecht and two of his siblings survived into adulthood.
- His father was a goldsmith, and one of his older brothers, Hans Durer was a painter, and he trained Albrecht. He went on to become the apprentice of Michael Wolgemut (Nuremberg’s leading artist at the time) at the age of fifteen.
- His 1484 Self-Portrait was completed when he was thirteen years old.
- During the early-1490s, Durer traveled around Europe spending time in the cities of Frankfurt, Strasbourg, and Basel.
Sight is the noblest sense of man.
Albrecht Durer
- From 1494 to 1495, Albrecht Durr spent time in Venice. He was inspired by the work of Giovani Bellini, Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Lorenzo di Credi, and Andrea Mantegna. After setting up his own workshop in Nuremberg, he returned to Italy, staying there from 1505 to 1507.
- He was in regular contact with many of Europe’s most talented artists, including Raphael, Giovanni Bellini, and Leonardo da Vinci.
- Maximilian I (leader of the Holy Roman Empire) became Albrecht Durer’s key patron from 1512.
- Three Durer engravings produced in 1513 and 1514 (Knight, Death and the Devil (1513), Saint Jerome in his Study (1514) and Melencolia I (1514) are known as his master prints.
- In addition to his works of art, Albrecht Durer also produced books, including Four Books on Human Proportion, Four Books on Measurement, and Various Lessons for the Fortification of Cities, Castles and Localities.
- Some of his famous paintings included Adam and Eve (1507), The Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand (1508), Lot and His Daughters (1496-1499), and the Feast of the Rose Garlands.
- He painted both with oil paints and with watercolours. Some of his works using watercolours included Innsbruck Castle Courtyard, Young Hare, and Tuft of Cowslips.
If a man devotes himself to art, much evil is avoided that happens otherwise if one is idle.
Albrecht Durer
- He was friends with the astronomer Johannes Stabius, and they collaborated on a spherical world map project.
- He often signed his artworks with a monogram (featuring a stylized A with a smaller D).
- One of Albrecht Durer’s most famous works is his woodcut titled The Rhinoceros, produced in 1515.
The artist is chosen by God to fulfill his commands and must never be overwhelmed by public opinion.
Albrecht Durer
- Albrecht Durer died in Nuremberg in 1528 at the age of 56.
- Albrecht Durer’s house in Nuremberg, built in 1420, is now a museum, and it features a re-creation of Durer’s workshop.
