Born in Nuremberg, Albrecht Dürer, the great innovator of German Renaissance art, visited Venice in his twenties, where he studied the crucial art theoretical questions of the Italian Renaissance: how to convey ideal human proportions, how to depict nature as faithfully as possible, and the problems of perspective and anatomy. After his return home to Nuremberg, his workshop attracted numerous talented young artists, whose style of drawing was greatly influenced by the virtuoso master’s works. The Museum of Fine Arts has two autograph drawings by Dürer, although several other pieces were once also attributed to him, such as the pen-and-ink drawing by Hans Schäufelein and the sheet entitled Rider with Lance. Nearly 250 prints by Dürer are preserved in the collection as well, of which nine can be seen in the exhibition, including the three master engravings: Knight, Death and Devil, Melencolia I, and Saint Jerome in His Study. Hans Baldung Grien, who is represented here with one composition, worked together with Hans Schäufelein in Dürer’s workshop from 1503 onwards, producing stained glass designs and woodcut book illustrations. They were joined in 1505 by Wolf Traut, who also participated in designing woodcuts. Hans von Kulmbach arrived in Nuremberg around 1504–1505, where he designed stained glass windows and painted altarpieces for the rest of his life; here we can see one of his glass window designs.
The Age of DÜRER
