18 Facts About Albrecht Altdorfer

Albrecht Altdorfer is remarkable as one of the first artists to take an interest in landscape as an independent subject.

Albrecht Altdorfer acquired an interest in art from his father, Ulrich Altdorfer, who was a painter and miniaturist.

Albrecht Altdorfer settled in the free imperial city of Regensburg, a town located on the Danube River in 1505, eventually becoming the town architect and a town councillor.

Albrecht Altdorfer's models were niellos and copper engravings from the workshops of Jacopo de Barbari and Albrecht Durer.

Albrecht Altdorfer signed and dated each one of his works.

Albrecht Altdorfer was the pioneer painter of pure landscape, making them the subject of the painting, as well as compositions dominated by their landscape; these comprise much of his oeuvre.

Albrecht Altdorfer believed that the human figure should not disrupt nature, but rather participate in it or imitate its natural processes.

Albrecht Altdorfer made many fine finished drawings, mostly landscapes, in pen and watercolour such as the Landscape with the Woodcutter in 1522.

Albrecht Altdorfer painted some portraits; overall his painted oeuvre was not large.

The Battle is in the Alte Pinakothek, which has the best collection of Albrecht Altdorfer's paintings, including his small St George and the Dragon, in oil on parchment, where the two figures are tiny and almost submerged in the lush, dense forest that towers over them.

Albrecht Altdorfer seems to exaggerate the measurements of the forest in comparison to the figures: the leaves appear to be larger than the horse, showing the significance of nature and landscape.

Albrecht Altdorfer emphasizes line within the work, by displaying the upward growth of the forest with the vertical and diagonal lines of the trunks.

Albrecht Altdorfer was a significant printmaker, with numerous engravings and about ninety-three woodcuts.

Albrecht Altdorfer was one of the most successful early etchers, and was unusual for his generation of German printmakers in doing no book illustrations.

Albrecht Altdorfer often combined etching and engraving techniques in a single plate, and produced about 122 intaglio prints altogether.

Many of Albrecht Altdorfer's prints are quite small in size, and he is considered to be of the main members of the group of artists known as the Little Masters.

Albrecht Altdorfer was considered to be an outstanding politician of his day.

Albrecht Altdorfer made etchings of the interior of the synagogue and designed a woodcut of the cult image of the Schone Maria.