Albrecht Durer

 Albrecht Durer was born in Nuremberg, Franconia, in 1471, in present day Germany. At the time it was the Holy Roman Empire. Nuremberg was important to him, he was born, and he died there and, after travelling, always returned there. Durer's house, where he lived and worked from 1509 to 1528, is still there, near the Durer monument on Bergstresser. The Gothic style of the building has been carefully preserved and the house has been made into an interesting museum that gives insights into life in the early sixteenth century, and into the everyday life of Albrecht Durer, the most prominent Nuremberg artist. Albrecht father was a goldsmith and young Albrecht became his apprentice, he followed in his father footsteps. learning the art of shapes and engraving jewelry. 

Albrecht Durer 
Germany painter, printmaker 

One of his greatest works he did in engravings is the intriguing "Knight, Death and the Devil", full of medieval fascination. Light filtering through mottled glass windows shows us "Saint Jerome in his Cell", and another well-known piece is "Melencolia" (the artist has inserted the title in the work itself, hence the old spelling) which is full of symbols, geometry and even a magic square with the date of the engraving (1514).

      Sixteen forceful pieces make up the "Apocalypse" series which he produced in 1498, followed by the "Great Passion", the "Holy Family and Saints", the "Seven Sorrows Polyptych" (commissioned by Frederick III of Saxony) and, later, the "Life of the Virgin" series. In 1496 he first used his distinctive monogram signature: a stylized letter "D" nestling under a large letter "A" that forms an archway over and around it; this distinctive signature is present in most of Durer's works. He produced great art in this fertile period, including many Madonnas and several atmospheric landscapes; his backgrounds became even more detailed and suggestive. His fame spread rapidly; print is the perfect medium for spreading the word or, as in this case, the picture. Durer made another trip to Italy in 1505, staying until 1507 and diversifying his artistic output. He produced altar pieces, portraits and a series of paintings in tempera on linen. Famous paintings from this period are the rich and sensitive "Adoration of the Magi", which reveals the various influences of his recent trip to Italy, and a curious oil-on-wood triptych painting, the Paumgartner altar piece. This three-panel altar piece was commissioned by Nuremberg's prominent Paumgartner family, indeed Saint Eustace and Saint George on the flanking panels have the faces of the Paumgartner brothers while other family members are depicted as small figures in the nativity scene in the central panel.

His artwork was different from many artists that I have seen with his engraving and painting it seems so surreal. He also wrote books, not only a painter a woodshop man, but an illustrator also. Theoretical books on geometrical forms and proportions, and even a book on fortifications. His "Four Books on Measurement" deal with geometry, from linear geometry to polygons or two-dimensional geometry. In 1506, whilst still in Italy, he was commissioned by the German community of Venice to create an altar piece for the church of San Bartolomeo. The beautiful "Adoration of the Virgin", also called the "Feast of the Rose Garlands" was later taken to Prague where it can still be seen in Prague's National Gallery. Despite invitations to stay and work in Venice, Durer returned to Nuremberg where he continued to produce fine art, displaying his multiple talents in woodcutting, painting, engraving, print-making and portraiture. A simple preparatory drawing dating from 1508, the "Praying Hands", is a fine example of the artist's great talent and enduring fame. In 1507, he produced Germany's first full-scale nude painting: "Adam and Eve" (on two panels), elaborating on his 1504 engraving. Other famous Durer artworks include "Virgin with Iris" (1508), the "Assumption of the Virgin" altar piece (1509) and the "Adoration of the Trinity" (1511)

He died due to an illness that he caught from traveling all around the world. April 6th, 1528, he was 56 years old.

https://www.albrechtdurer.org/biography