Dürer, Albrecht

Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) Albrecht Dürer is the greatest exponent of Northern European Renaissance art. The son of a goldsmith, Dürer was born in Nuremberg on May 21, 1471 and trained as a painter/drawer in the studio of Michael Wolgemut. At the end of his apprenticeship he went on a journey to the upper Rhine to make the acquaintance of the famous Martin Schongauer, who, however, died before Dürer was able to meet him. In 1494 he traveled to Italy, where he received a new impetus for his work and in this way influenced German painting. Returning in 1495, he settled in Nuremberg, with his own workshop, and traveled again to Italy regularly between 1505 and 1507. In the following years Dürer became so well known that he received numerous commissions for Emperor Maximilian I. On April 6, 1528, he died at his home in Nuremberg. The attention to detail and subtlety of his drawings characterize Dürer's works. His drawings were taken as examples not only in Germany, but almost all over Europe by different generations of art.