b.May 21, 1471, Imperial Free City of Nernberg [Germany] d.April 6, 1528, Nernberg Albrecht Durer (May 21, 1471 ?C April 6, 1528) was a German painter, printmaker and theorist from Nuremberg. His still-famous works include the Apocalypse woodcuts, Knight, Death, and the Devil (1513), Saint Jerome in his Study (1514) and Melencolia I (1514), which has been the subject of extensive analysis and interpretation. His watercolours mark him as one of the first European landscape artists, while his ambitious woodcuts revolutionized the potential of that medium. D??rer introduction of classical motifs into Northern art, through his knowledge of Italian artists and German humanists, have secured his reputation as one of the most important figures of the Northern Renaissance. This is reinforced by his theoretical treatise which involve principles of mathematics, perspective and ideal proportions. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Renaissance in Northern Europe ever since.
Portrait of Frederick the Wise
1524 Engraving, 188 x 122 mm Art Institute, Chicago Frederick III, called the Wise, Elector of the Empire and Duke of Saxony (1463-1525), was a patron of art and science, the founder of the University of Wittenberg and a supporter of the Reformation, although he never openly espoused the doctrines of Martin Luther. He could easily have been elected Emperor but wisely declined the honour. One of the earliest patrons of D?rer, he commissioned a portrait (in 1496) and many other works. The inscription beneath this engraved portrait reads: "Sacred to Christ. He favoured the word of God with piety, worthy to be revered by posterity forever. Albrecht D?rer made this for the Duke Frederick of Saxony, Arch-Marshal, Elector of the Holy Roman Empire; B[ene] M[erenti] F[ecit] V[ivus] V[ivo], MDXXIIII." (The phrase connotes: "worthy of high praise even while still alive.") The engraving is based on a preparatory drawing, probably prepared during Frederick's stay at Nuremberg from November 1522 to February 1523. It could be pointed out that D?rer must have had a remarkable memory in order to add so much form and detail in the engraving that does not appear in the sketch from life, particularly the details of the eyes, the higher eyebrows and the revision of the cap. The portrait shows the fat but somehow tragic face of Frederick the Wise, one year before his death, in three-quarter profile, in contrast to the strict profile of Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg.Artist:D?RER, Albrecht Title: Portrait of Frederick the Wise Painted in 1501-1550 , German - - graphics : portrait