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.
Young Woman Attacked by Death
1494 Engraving, 114 x 102 mm Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe In the middle of the picture, on a turf bench, a wild wood gnome is attacking a young woman who defends herself angrily. While the lean, bony man is reminiscent of depictions of Death, the dead tree to the left of the turf bench is a symbol of vice and fated undoing. The original intention was to include a commentary, as is shown by the empty inscription cartouche above the scene. The most obvious interpretation is that made by Panofsky, who considered the small genre picture to be an allegory of death. This engraving is today generally accepted as being by D?rer, although it is reminiscent of the Housebook master in several respects. The thistle-like plant in the background, eryngium (sea holly), occurs in several of D?rer's early works. Its reputedly aphrodisiac qualities were, according to Pliny, known already to the ancient Greeks, and apparently fascinated the young D?rer. Perhaps the print is related to a Nuremberg news item of the year 1489, when a man was hanged for a number of attacks on women.Artist:D?RER, Albrecht Title: Young Woman Attacked by Death; or, The Ravisher Painted in 1501-1550 , German - - graphics : mythological