DURER, ALBERT, a German painter, designer, sculptor, and engraver on wood and metal; born in Niirnberg in 1471. His father was a skillful goldsmith of Hungary. In 1486 he left his father's trade and became an apprentice of Michael Wohlgemuth, then the best painter in Nurnberg. At Nurnberg he married the daughter of Hans Frey, a mechanic, who has been falsely accused for centuries of embittering his life and bringing him to his grave. In 1505 he went to Venice to improve himself in his art. He painted the "Martyrdom of Bartholomew" for St. Mark's Church, which painting was purchased by the Emperor Rudolph and removed to Prague. He also traveled to Bologna, to improve his knowledge of perspective. On his return to Niirnberg his fame spread far and wide. Maximilian I. ap pointed him his court painter, and Charles V. confirmed him in this office. He was the first in Germany who taught the rules of perspective, and of the pro portions of the human figure. He not only made use of the burin, like his pred ecessors, but was also among the first to practice etching. He invented the
method of printing woodcuts with two colors. Among his masterpieces in paint ing are a "Crucifixion," "Adam and Eve," an "Adoration of the Magi," the "Adoration of the Trinity," in the Bel vedere Gallery, Vienna ; and portraits of Raphael, Erasmus, and Melanchthon, who were his friends. Among his best engravings on copper are his ''Fortune," "Melancholy," "Adam and Eve in Para dise," "St. Hubert," "St. Jerome," and the "Smaller Passion" (so called), in 16 plates. Among his best engravings on wood are the "Greater Passion" (so called), in 13 plates; the "Smaller Pas sion," with the frontispiece, 37 pieces; the "Revelations of St. John," with the frontispiece, 15 plates; the "Life of Mary," two prints, with the frontispiece. Mirer has also much merit as a writer, and published works on "Human Pro portion," "Fortification," and the "Use of the Compass and Square." He died in Niirnberg in 1528.