Albrecht Altdorfer Biography and Artwork

Albrecht Altdorfer was a German painter, printmaker, and draftsman born between 1480 and 1486. He learned the art from his father and went on to become one of the founders of landscape painting. His early work was unconventional, featuring eccentric subject matter in small, intimate works in unconventional media. In 1506, he began signing and dating his engravings and drawings, which were followed by several small paintings in 1507.

Altdorfer’s most significant commission came for the wings of an altarpiece for the monastery of Saint Florian in Linz around 1509-1518. This work showcased his remarkable talent as a painter and established him as one of the major figures of the Danube School. The Danube school artists created a fantastic picturesque style characterized by an unparalleled depiction of light effects and spectacular colors.

Throughout his career, Altdorfer made significant contributions to art history by laying down landscapes’ foundation in painting. His innovative style established landscape as an independent genre that inspired many later artists like Pieter Bruegel and J.M.W Turner. Although some critics accused him of being at odds with other popular Renaissance artists such as Michelangelo or Rafaelo because he preferred smaller works with less grandeur but more documentary quality.

In summary, Albrecht Altdorfer is widely regarded as one of Germany’s most influential painters due to his contribution to establishing a new style in landscape paintings during the northern renaissance period. His eccentricity ensured experimentation that led him to break away from conventional norms while still establishing himself among notable painters like Bruegel or Turner years after he died at age sixty-one years old in Regensburg where he spent most of his life becoming a citizen there back in 1505.

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