Albrecht Dürer was born in 1471 in Nuremberg, Germany and apprenticed under his father as a goldsmith at age 13. He studied art in Italy and returned to Nuremberg at age 23 where he became the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance, known for his woodcut prints, portraits, self-portraits, and textbooks on art theory. Dürer created some of his most famous works, including copperplate engravings like "Melencolia I" and "The Four Apostles", while receiving patronage from German rulers like Frederick the Wise and Maximilian I.

2. • Albrecht was born in
Nuremberg, Germany in
1471.
• At 13, he became
apprenticed to his
father, a goldsmith.
• At 23, he returned to
Nuremberg from Italy
where he studied the
techniques of great Italian
artists. Early Life

3. • Although the
Renaissance began
in Italy, its ideas
soon spread to
Northern Europe.
Albrecht Dürer was
without doubt the
greatest artist of the
Northern
Renaissance.

4. Dürer’s Artistic Career
• He created a series of
13 woodcut prints for a
German edition of the
Bible.
• This gave him the idea of
printing copies on the
printing press and selling
them by the thousands.
Similar to buying a poster or
print today.

5. “The Walk”- the
couple is being spied
upon by a skeleton
with an hour-glass.

6. In 1496 he was hired to paint...
• Frederick
the Wise
This wealthy and
powerful patron
recommended Albrect
to other rich and
powerful Germans.

7. •Maximillian I,
the Holy Roman
Emperor
• German leaders considered
themselves to be decendents
of the Roman Caesars.

8. He produced a trio of his greatest
copperplate engravings, such as,
the following… It is believed that
they were meant to be interpreted
together.

12. „“A study
of Praying
Hands”

13. „ “The Hare”
As you have
probably noticed,
Albrecht Dürer had a
distinctive way of
signing his work.

14. Dürer, the
portrait
painter
• These are portraits Dürer
painted of his parents.

15. • Dürer was one
of the first to
create self-
portraits as a
visual
notebook of
his life.

16. Albrecht DÜrer

18. 'Thus I, Albrecht Dürer from
Nuremburg, painted myself
with indelible colors at the
age of 28 years.”
Some who saw his paintings
were disturbed by the Christ-
like appearance, but what
Dürer was trying to express
was that man is a work of art,
and God’s greatest creation.
Albrecht Dürer’s final self-
portrait, dated 1500.

19. Self-Portrait, 1493
Self-Portrait, 1493

20. Dürer’s later career was spent on writing and
illustrating several textbooks on the theories of
mathematics in art.
• 1. Dürer’s textbook on artistic theory
became famous.

21. • After a second
trip to Itlay, he
painted a great
Italian
masterpiece,
“The Feast of the
Rose Garlands”,
impressing even
the great Italian
artists.
This painting today is in the Prague National Museum.

22. • He made the
largest woodcut
engraving ever
created, a 10 feet
by 11 feet paper
triumphal arch
for Maximillian I.
• It was carved
from 192 blocks
of wood and was
filled with
beautifully
detailed figures.

23. • Dürer painted
one of his
greatest
masterpieces,
“Four
Apostles”, in
1526.
• Presented originally
as his gift to the city
of Nuremberg.

24. • Rather than simply imitating what others
were doing, Dürer was very much an
innovator. He is, for example, the first artist
who is known to have painted a self-portrait
and to have done a landscape painting of a
specific scene.
• In 1521 he journeyed to the Netherlands
searching for fresh ideas, when he fell ill with
malaria. Until he died in 1528, Dürer
suffered spells of fainting, depression, fevers,
and headaches, making his last years
miserable.