Jessica Crabtree

May 21, 1471: Birth of German Renaissance artist Albrecht Durer

Left: Self-Portrait, Oil on lime panel (1500)

Durer is most famous for his signature work – the ubiquitous “Praying Hands.” The story has it that they are the hands of his brother, who gave up his chance at an art career in order to provide for Albrecht’s training. Praying Hands, brush drawing on blue primed paper (c. 1508)

Whether or not the story is apocryphal, Durer did go on to become possibly the most influential artist of the Northern Renaissance. Durer’s style is characterized by painstaking attention to detail and a focused, dramatic approach to composition. His fascinating portfolio betrays him as a man with an open mind and a curious nature.

He was a prolific artist, and unlike his Italian contemporary Leonardo da Vinci, left behind an incredibly diverse collection of artwork in a wide range of mediums and subjects. Well over a thousand of his paintings, drawings, and etchings have survived to the present day.

Left: Portrait of a Young Venetian Woman,
Oil on elm panel (1505)

Right:
Head Study of a Man Aged 93, Brush drawing on primed paper (1521)

Like da Vinci, however, his most significant accomplishment lay in his ability as a draftsman. Living in Germany in the wake of the printing revolution, he used the crafts of woodcutting and engraving to capitalize on the potential of art reproduction as an industry, making him one the most widely published and esteemed artists of the Renaissance.

Web Gallery of Art – Online Museum Database: Albrecht Durer Biography and Gallery

Below: Wing of a Roller, watercolor/gouache on vellum (1512)
Right: Two Squirrels (1492)
Below right: Young Hare, watercolor and gouache (1502)