Dürer is undoubtedly the most significant artist of the northern Renaissance. This book traces his career from his early work in the medieval tradition of Martin Schongauer, through his education in the classical tradition in Italy, to his sophisticated development of the woodcut and engraving techniques, which changed the history of printmaking.
Dürer's influence in later periods ranged from the obsession of artists and collectors with his work during the late sixteenth century to the virtually iconic status he aquired during the rise of German nationalism in the nineteenth. His work had a significant impact on Hitler and the Nazis as well as the communists of East Germany. The novelist Günter Grass, himself a printmaker, contributes a subjective view of Dürer's work from a twentieth-century standpoint. The numerous illustrations include all Dürer's best-known prints as well as numerous drawings and watercolours.
