Albrecht Durer
Durer was born May 21, 1471 in Nuremberg, the son of a goldsmith, who arrived in this German city of Hungary in the mid XV century. In this family, there were 18 children, of whom the future great artist was the third child and second son. His father, Albereht Durer the elder, was a goldsmith. At first his father tried to inspire his son jewelry business, but then realized that her son artistic talent at the age of 15 years, Albert was sent to study at a workshop leader Nuremberg painter Michael Wohlgemuth at the time. There Durer learned not only painting, but engraving on wood and copper. Education in 1490 to complete the journey by tradition – for four years, the young man traveled to several cities in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, while continuing to improve in the visual arts and material processing. In 1494, Durer returned to Nuremberg, shortly after which he married. He then in the same year, takes a trip to Italy, where he met with the works of Mantegna, Polayolo, Lorenzo di Credi, and other masters.
In 1495 Durer returns to his hometown and for the next ten years creating a significant part of his engravings, have now become famous. In 1505 Durer went back to Italy. In 1520, the artist takes a trip to the Netherlands, where he became the victim of an unknown disease, then it muchivshey until his death. Durer died on April 6, 1528 at home in Nuremberg. Durer was the first in Europe, the magic square, shown in his engraving "Melancholia" (see Albrecht Durer's square). In the work of Durer created dignified and courageous, a truly humanistic image of man complex era. "Self Portrait" (1500. Alte Pinakothek.
Munich) holds a special place not only in German but also in all European art, reflecting the depth and the inconsistency of the creative consciousness, which stood on the verge of two eras. Depicting themselves in a strictly frontal pose, Durer used a compositional scheme, which medieval artists used for the image of Christ. For him, it had special meaning: a person, according to the author, should remind Saviour only in appearance but also in a figurative sense, the top – ready to take on and carry the "cross" conferred upon him in this life. Not haughty pride, but deep religious consciousness comes through in this "adjustment" with a Christ: his peerless artistic gift Durer (almost reached the threshold of the thirtieth) perceives as God's grace and their response to the duty of the Creator, gave him great ability to "create peace" again – brush and chisel. In this self-portrait the artist tried to connect the old system of proportions with the new Renaissance doctrine of the proportions of the human body. In an effort to overcome the conventions of old art, Durer was the first German artists mastered the best artistic achievements of Renaissance Italy. Like Leonardo, he embodies the characteristic of the Renaissance artist-scientist type, combining the rational, scientific knowledge the real world with its deep philosophical reflection and transformative, dynamic and passionate imagination of the artist. Due to the fact that Durer died before the formal registration of Protestant denominations, it is difficult to say accurately, that he became an adept of the Reformation, however, his engravings of the period – namely, several variants of the "Last Supper" clearly shows his keen interest in the ideas advocated by Luther, namely, communion for the laity, not only bread, but wine.