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ALBERT DURER

Albert Durer was a German painter, designer, sculptor, and engraver on wood and metal. He was born in 1471 at Nurnberg and died in 1528. His father was a skilful goldsmith of Hungary. In 1486 he left his father's trade and became an apprentice of Michael Wohlgemuth, then the best painter in Nurnberg. Having finished his studies he entered upon his 'wanderjahre,' the usual course of travels of a German youth. On his return to Nurnberg he married the daughter of Hans Frey, a mechanic, who has been falsely accused for centuries of embittering his life and bringing him to his grave. In 1505 he went to Venice to improve himself in his art.

His abilities excited envy and admiration. He painted the Martyrdom of Bartholomew for St. Mark's church, which painting was purchased by the Emperor Rudolph and removed to Prague. He also travelled to Bologna, to improve bis knowledge of perspective. On his return to Nurnberg his fame spread far and wide. Maximilian I appointed him his court-painter, and Charles V confirmed him in this office.

All the artists and learned men of his time honoured and loved him, and for many years he was one of the chief burghers of his native town. Profound application and great facility in the mechanical part of his art were the characteristics of Albert Durer, and enabled him to exert a great influence on German art. He was the first in Germany who taught the rules of perspective, and of the proportions of the human figure. He not only made use of the burin, like his predecessors, but was also among the first to practice etching and invented the method of printing woodcuts with two colours.

Among his masterpieces in painting are a Crucifixion, Adam and Eve, an Adoration of the Magi, and portraits of Raphael, Erasmus, and Melanchthon, who were his friends. Among his best engravings on copper are his Fortune, Melancholy, Adam and Eve in Paradise, St. Hubert, St. Jerome, and the Smaller Passion (so called), in sixteen plates. Among his best engravings on wood are the Greater Passion (so called), in thirteen plates; the Smaller Passion, with the frontispiece, thirty-seven pieces; the Revelation of St. John, with the frontispiece, fifteen plates; the Life of Mary, two prints, with the frontispiece. Albert Durer has also much merit as a writer, and published works on Human Proportion, Fortification, and the Use of the Compass and Square.
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