Albrecht Dürer

Albrecht Dürer was born in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1471. His family came from Hungary, Germanizing the family name to Thürer or Dürer when they settled in Nuremberg soon after the middle of the 15th century. His father, also called Albrecht, was a goldsmith. His parents had eighteen children, of whom Albrecht was the second. Albrecht's younger brother, Hans Dürer, became a well-known artist as well in the sixteenth century. Albrecht Dürer’s work includes altarpieces, portraits and self-portraits, drawings, engravings, and woodcuts. In 1494 he traveled to Italy, where he remained until 1495. The trip had a strong effect on him; echoes of Italian art are apparent in most of his drawings, paintings, and graphics of the following decade. Italian influences were slower to take hold in his graphics than in his drawings and paintings. He died in 1528. His works stand with Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo as the highest artistic achievements of the Renaissance.