1. Albrecht Durer Northern Renaissance German 1471-1528

2. Durer was the leader of the German High Renaissance. Durer was an admirer of the Italian Renaissance and was one of the first artist to travel to Italy expressly to study Italian art.

3. Durer was the first artist to paint a self- portrait. He painted a series of self-portraits over his career to document his life. Durer also signed and dated his artwork which was unusual at the time.

4. Durer believed that sight was our greatest sense and through looking, truth is revealed. Durer was a master of oil paint and watercolor. Watercolor at the time was used mainly for preliminary sketches that were often discarded. Durer had a great love for animals and often used them in his art work.

5. While Durer was a great painter, he is more well known for his printmaking. He was one of the first artist of the Western world to use woodcut as a major medium. Durer’s woodcuts were very well crafted with very fine lines which give the appearance of being a pen and ink drawing.

6. Durer also worked with copper engravings. Because many prints can be made of the same image, Durer was able to sell them at more modest prices than his paintings. This allowed him to become a wealthy artist and honored citizen in his home town of Nuremberg.

7. Many of Durer’s prints deal with religious stories. Durer’s most famous prints came from a series illustrating the Apocalypse, The Book of Revelation in the Bible.