1471-1528
Painter And Printmaker

German Roots. Albrecht Durer was born on 21 May 1471 in Nuremberg, the third of eighteen children. He began his training as a goldsmith in his father's workshop but persuaded his father to allow him to apprentice with Michael Wolgemut, a local painter and designer of woodcut book-illustrations. Wolgemut's shop created works for Anton Koberger, Durer's godfather, and a prestigious printer and editor. After completing his apprenticeship, Durer traveled (1490- 1494) and visited notable artists and publishing centers at Colmar, Basel, and Strasbourg, while employing his skills as a print designer. He married Agnes Frey, the daughter of a local well-to-do artisan, upon his return but left several months later when the plague broke out in Nuremberg. During that trip to Venice (1494-1495) he created some of the first autonomous watercolors depicting landscapes and architectural settings. Upon his return he concentrated on the production of...