He soon gained a reputation for the quality of his engravings. When he had completed his apprenticeship, he travelled across Europe, visiting the Netherlands and taking two prolonged stays in Italy. Perhaps the most important part of his time in Italy was his stay in Venice and his love of the work of the then elderly Giovanni Bellini.It was during his second visit to Italy that he turned his hand to painting.

In 1494, he married Agnes Frey, the daughter of a local merchant. It is not known hwhat kind of relationship he had with her, but soon after the marriage he travelled to Italy without her.

In 1495, he started his own workshop in Nuremberg. It was successful with his engravings much in demand from wealthy German patrons. Not only that but he was frequently commissioned for portraits and to paint several altarpieces. He also painted numerous self-portraits (has there been an artist who has painted so many self-portraits?) of him at different ages that the frequency of them has almost made one thing that he painted them not at different ages but at different hours! On a purely superficial level, he was a good-looking guy though.

By 1513 he was 42 and created his greatest three engravings: Knight, Death and the Devil (1513), St. Jerome in His Study (1514) and Melencolia I (1514). Such was his fame by then that the Emperor Maximilian commissioned him to create the largest woodcut print ever made before or since: The Triumphal Arch, a piece Emperor Maximilian saw as a celebration of, er, himself and his achievements. So pleased was Maximilian with the result that he granted Dürer a pension which lasted until his death in 1519. Thereafter, Dürer had to travel with his wife to the Netherlands and the court of the Emperor Charles V to have the pension confirmed. He also looked out for new patrons. It was during this trip that he not only met Erasmus but on the return trip caught the mysery illness that would afflict his last seven years.

He became an enthusiastic follower to the strict and austere doctines of Martin Luther. He also wrote theoretical works. By 1520, such was his fame that Raphael wa honoured to exchange drawings with him.

He died at the age of 56, shortly before a book of human proportions by him was published.

Biog. II

Graphic artist, painter and theoretician who formed an important link between Northern and Southern European art and who is regarded as the founder of German High Renaissance.

As the son of a Nuremberg goldsmith, Dürer had mastered all manner of art and craft techniques at an early age. When he was fifteen, he started a four year apprenticeship with the painter and graphic artist Michael Wolgemut who, at that time, had quite a reputation. He worked in Wolgemut’s atelier on altar paintings, designs for stained-glass artists and woodcuts for illustrations in books.

In 1490, as was tradition, the young artist set out on a long journey. He stayed in Basel for a long time and carried out book illustration assignments and mastered the sophisticated techniques of copper engraving and etching. Four years later he returned home and married Agnes Fey. The marriage, which his father had arranged, was a childless one. He soon left, this time to avoid the plague, and headed for Italy. There he learned to compose, discovered the wonders of perspective and the use of colours by the thriving Italian Renaissance painters. He became a personal friend of the Bellini brothers.

Upon his return to the town of his birth he set up his own atelier and started selling his own engravings and etchings. Entirely in keeping with the Renaissance he was a keen student of science in his capacity of ‘homo universalis’ and wrote theoretical essays on the arts. He moved in circles of progressive humanist scholars and was a leading citizen in the influential free imperial city of Nuremberg. Holy Roman Emperor Maximiliaan enlisted Dürer into his service and paid him a substantial annual allowance.

His last major trip took him to the Netherlands. Upon his return to Nuremberg he painted his most influential portraits and wrote theoretical works on the science of measurement, perspective and proportion. His death in 1528 marked the end of a very productive life during which he was acknowledged as the greatest German artist of his time. Indeed he is now regarded as not only the greatest of all German artists of all time but one of the greatest ever seen ...top of page

Dates of Important Works

• Saint John's Church (1489)
• Self-Portrait at 22 (1493)
• House by a Pond (1496)
• Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony (1496)
• The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin (c.1496-1497)
• Willow Mill (1496-1498)
• Portrait of Dürer's Father at 70 (1497)
• Self-Portrait at 26 (1498)
• The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Engraving) (1498)
• Lot Fleeing with His Daughters from Sodom (c.1498)
• The Paumgartner Altarpiece (c.1498-1504)
• Portrait of Oswolt Krel (1499)

• Self-Portrait at 28 (1500)
• Lamentation for Christ (c.1500-1503)

• A Young Hare (1502)
• The Large Turf (1503)
• The Jabach Altarpiece (c.1503-1504)

• The Adoration of the Magi (1504)
• The Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand (1508)
• The Adoration of the Holy Trinity (1511)

• Knight, Death and the Devil (Engraving) (1513)
• St. Jerome in His Study (Engraving) (1514)
• Melencolia I (Engraving) (1514)

• The Triumphal Arch (Woodcut Print) (1514)
• Portrait of Bernard von Reesen (1521)
• The Four Holy Men (1526)
• Portrait of Hieronymus Holzschuher (1526)

Albrecht Dürer
Self-Portrait at 28
(1500)

Albrecht Dürer
Self-Portrait
(1493)

Albrecht Dürer
Virgin and Child
(1508)

Albrecht Dürer
Weierhaus

Albrecht Dürer
Young Venetian Woman

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//Sculptures//
ALBRECHT DURER

ALBRECHT DURER
Praying Hands of an Apostle

Sculpture

Superb. Adaptation of Durer's famous drawing Praying Hands.

• Medium: Collectible quality resin with hand-painted color details, matte and glossy finish
• Dimensions: 6 1/4 in. High x 5 1/4 in. Wide x 3 in. Deep
• Condition: New in box
• Date of Creation: 1990-Now
• Origin: Europe
• Manufactured by: Parastone Mouseion