Albrecht Durer was born in Nuremberg in 1471, in present day Germany. He was a painter, writer and engraver(雕刻师), but his first and probably greatest artistic influence was in the medium of printmaking.
Albrecht's father was a goldsmith(金匠) and the young Albrecht naturally became his student, learning shaping and engraving jewelry. He also started learning from a local artist Michael Wolgemut, who specialized in artistic woodcuts for books. Durer's first contact with art was in the woodcut printing range, so it is little wonder that he went on to become expert in this field. He actually expanded the craft of producing pictures for printing, giving it more depth, and he raised print-making into an art-form. Towards the end of the century (1497—1500), Durer produced an impressive series of religious woodcuts. Indeed, it was in 1513—1514 that Durer produced the three extraordinary engravings ("Knight, Death and DeviP"; "Melencolia"; "Saint Jerome in his Cell”) that had a strong influence on the art world and came to be known as the Master Engravings.
Durer's success as a printmaker rapidly spread across Europe. He was highly aware of his artistic image and authorship, which is obvious in his remarkable signature. As his art became increasingly valuable, Durer's signature was always copied, which even led him to accuse the engraver Marcantonio Raimondi of repeatedly copying his works and signature and selling them off as originals. In the end, the court ruled that Raimondi could continue making copies of Durer's, as long as he didn't reproduce the artist's signature.
Durer died in 1528 and was buried in Nuremberg. Like most famous Italian artists, Durer probably felt himself to be an "artist-king", and his self-portraits(自画像)seem undoubtedly to show a man sure of his own gift.
