German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) is held up as perhaps the most significant artist of his time, particularly for his printmaking. The son of a Nuremberg goldsmith, Dürer was introduced early to the tools in his father’s trade, as he was expected, naturally, to also become a goldsmith. When he was finally allowed to train as an artist, Dürer entered an apprenticeship with Michael Wolgemut, whose workshop created woodcuts for Anton Koberger, a local publisher and also Dürer’s godfather. After four years, and with this strong artistic foundation, Dürer left Wolgemut’s studio and traveled throughout Europe, encountering artists whose influence would have a lasting impression on his work.
By age thirty, Dürer had already begun many of the works reprinted in this coloring book. Over the next few decades, he created woodcuts and engravings that revolutionized printmaking as a form of fine art. His technical brilliance grew, resulting in works that are considered a trio of masterpieces:
Knight, Death, and the Devil;
Melencolia I; and
Saint Jerome in His Study. Along with these three engravings, we have included numerous independent prints and selections from his series the
Apocalypse, the
Small Passion, the
Large Passion, the
Engraved Passion, and the
Life of the Virgin. Each is intense and fascinating.
Images
- The Four Horsemen, 1498, from the Apocalypse
- The Apocalyptic Woman, 1498, from the Apocalypse
- Saint John Devouring the Book, 1498, from the Apocalypse
- Saint Michael Fighting the Dragon, 1498, from the Apocalypse
- The Four Avenging Angels, 1498, from the Apocalypse
- The Adoration of the Lamb, 1498, from the Apocalypse
- Saint John before God and the Elders, 1498, from the Apocalypse
- The Vision of the Seven Candlesticks, 1498, from the Apocalypse
- The Angel with the Key to the Bottomless Pit, 1498, from the Apocalypse
- The Babylonian Whore, 1498, from the Apocalypse
- The Opening of the Fifth and Sixth Seals, 1498, from the Apocalypse
- The Seven Trumpets, 1498, from the Apocalypse
- Nativity, 1509–1511, from the Small Passion
- Saint Jerome in His Study, 1514
- Saint Jerome in His Cell, 1511
- Saint Jerome in a Cave, 1512
- Saint Jerome Penitent in the Wilderness, c. 1496
- Triumphal Arch of Maximilian I (detail), 1515
- Triumphal Arch of Maximilian I (detail), 1515
- Triumphal Arch of Maximilian I (detail), 1515
- Portrait of Emperor Maximilian I, 1519
- Triumph of the Emperor Maximilian I (detail), c. 1516–1519
- Rhinoceros, 1515
- Melencolia I, 1514
- The Fall of Man (Adam and Eve), 1504
- Last Supper, 1510, from the Large Passion
- Knight, Death, and the Devil, 1513
- Saint George on Horseback, 1508
- The Prodigal Son amid the Swine, 1496
- Erasmus of Rotterdam, 1526
- The Trinity, 1511
- Engraving by Georg Paul Buchner (German, 1780–?), n.d., after Albrecht Dürer’s painting Self-Portrait in Fur Coat, 1500
- Joachim and the Angel, c. 1504, from the Life of the Virgin
- Joachim and Anna Meeting at the Golden Gate, 1504, from the Life of the Virgin
- The Abduction, 1516
- The Sea Monster, 1498
- Pilate Washing His Hands, 1512, from the Engraved Passion
- Harrowing of Hell (Christ in Limbo), 1510, from the Large Passion
- Flight into Egypt, c. 1504, from the Life of the Virgin
- Saint Anthony, 1519
- The Combat of Virtue and Pleasure in the Presence of Hercules, 1498–1499
- Samson Rending the Lion, 1497–1498
- Saint Eustace, c. 1501
- The Nativity, 1504
- Nativity, c. 1502–1503, from the Life of the Virgin
- Holy Family with Three Hares, c. 1497
- Saint Christopher, 1511
- Christ Taking Leave from His Mother, c. 1503–1504, from the Life of the Virgin
- Agony in the Garden, c. 1497, from the Large Passion
- Sojourn of the Holy Family in Egypt, c. 1501–1502, from the Life of the Virgin