Albrecht Dürer

The son of a goldsmith, Dürer was trained from boyhood in meticulous craftsmanship. He travelled twice to Venice and brought the Italian Renaissance theories of perspective, proportion and anatomy back to the north, becoming the leading artist of the Northern Renaissance.

His woodcuts and engravings, such as the Apocalypse, Melencolia I and the Rhinoceros, circulated throughout Europe and made him the first internationally famous printmaker. He signed with his “AD” monogram and was among the first painters to portray himself again and again.