| Albrecht Durer (German Albrecht Durer, May 21, 1471, Nuremberg — April 6, 1528, Nuremberg) was a German painter and graphic artist, one of the greatest masters of West European Renaissance art.
Durer was born on May 21, 1471 in Nuremberg in a goldsmith's family, who migrated to the German city Nuremberg from Hungary in the middle of the 15th century. The family comprised of 18 children, of which the future great artist was the third child and second son. His father, Albrecht Durer Senior was a goldsmith. In the beginning, his father wanted his son to pursue career as goldsmith but soon understood that his son had artistic talent. At the age of 15 years, Albrecht joined a workshop of the leading Nuremberg artist of that time, Michael Wolgemut. There, Durer not only mastered painting but also engraving on tree and copper. According to tradition, his study was completed in 1490 after traveling — for four years the young man visited a number of cities in Germany, Switzerland and in the Netherlands and continued improving in fine arts and materials processing.
In 1494, Durer returned back to Nuremberg and soon got married. Then, in the same year, he traveled to Italy, where Durer got a chance to get acquainted with the creativity of Mantegna, Antonio Pollaiuolo, Lorenzo di Credi and other artists. In 1495, Durer once again returned back to his native city and within the next ten years, created a considerable portion of his engravings which now have become popular.
In 1505 Durer once again traveled to Italy.
In 1520 the artist went to the Netherlands, where he fell victim of an unknown disease, which tormented him till the end of his life. Durer died on April 6, 1528 in his native town, Nuremberg.
Durer created the magic square, the first in Europe, which is represented on his engraving "Melencolia” (See Square of Albrecht Durer).
The first of the popular self-portraits by Durer were made at the age of 13 (The portraits were made with silver pencil).
Stately and courageous, and an originally humanistic image of people from difficult epochs were created in the creative work of Durer. "Self-portrait" (1500 Old picture gallery, Munich) occupies a special place not only in German but also in all European art, reflecting the depth and inconsistency of the creative consciousness, standing on the verge of two epochs. By representing himself strictly in the frontal pose, Durer used a compositional scheme which medieval artists used for images of Christ. For him, it had a special meaning: the person, according to the author, should look like the Savior not only by the external appearance shape but also in a figurative, higher sense, a readiness to burden and carry the "cross", entrusted upon him in earthly life. Deep religious consciousness appears in this "equalization" of himself with Christ but not haughty arrogance: Durer perceives his incomparable artistic gift (almost on the threshold of thirty years) as a favor of the God and his reciprocal duty before the Creator, who has bestowed him with this highest ability “to create world” over again — with brushes and tools.
In this self-portrait, the artist tried to connect old systems of proportions with the new Renaissance doctrine about the proportions of the human body. Aspiring to overcome the convention of old art, Durer was the first of the German artists who was a master of the advanced art achievements of Renaissance Italy. Like Leonardo, he personified a type of artist-scientist, characteristic for the Renaissance, by relating rational, scientific knowledge of the real world with its deep philosophical perception and the transforming, dynamic, passionate imagination of the artist.
Since Durer died before the formal registration of Protestant confessions, it is difficult to authentically say that he became a follower of Reformation, however, his engravings of that period — particularly some variants of the "Last Supper" obviously indicate his keen interest to the ideas, propagandized by Martin Luther and particularly communion for laymen not only bread but wine.
Durer was the first German artist who began to work simultaneously in both engraving forms - on wood and copper. He achieved extraordinary expressiveness in engraving on wood, reforming the traditional working manner and using working methods which were developed for engraving on metal. At the end of the nineties, Durer created a number of magnificent xylographs, including one of his masterpieces — a series of engravings on wood called "Apocalypse" (1498), being a successful combination of post-Gothic art language and the stylistics of the Italian Revival. In 1513-1514, Durer created three graphic sheets, which became history of art under the name “Master engravings”: “Knight, Death and Devil”, “Saint Jerome in cell” and "Melancholia". “Adam and& Eve” (1504) was considered a masterpiece of tool engraving on metal in the works of Durer. |
May 21 is the 537th birthday of Albrecht Durer - the most famous German painter and printmaker. He became famous in his twenties for his prints and paintings, which finally made him the greatest artist of the Renaissance in Northern Europe. Durer came from a family of eighteen children, his father was a goldsmith. The name "Durer" is derived from "Thurer" which means doormaker. 
