Background

Albrecht Altdorfer was born approximately in 1480 in Regensburg, Germany. He was a son of Ulrich Altdorfer, who was an engraver. Albrecht had a brother, Erhard Altdorfer, who was also a painter and architect.

Career

Throughout his life, Altdorfer was active in the affairs of his Regensburg city. In 1519, he was made a member of the City Council for External Affairs, and in 1526, the painter was elected to the City Council for Internal Affairs. That year, Altdorfer was also appointed chief architect, in which capacity he supervised the building of the city wine cellars and slaughterhouse. Moreover, he was a member of the council, which, in 1533, decided to adopt Lutheranism in Regensburg.

Altdorfer's earliest preserved works are chiefly engravings and drawings, which show a marked interest in Italian prints, noticeable also in his first signed painting, the "Satyr Family" (1507). This panel, "St. George in a Wood" (1510) and "Holy Night" (1510-1515) are small works, that reveal a characteristically poetic feeling for the minutiae and light of landscape. In the work "St. George in a Wood", the landscape elements are so fused in color and detail with the figures, as to render the latter almost indistinct, and in the "Holy Night", the mysterious moonlight, shining on the bricks and wood, relegates the figures to a secondary role.

After 1510, Albrecht's paintings became larger, and he employed a more monumental and heroic language with vivid coloring. Particularly indicative is the altar for the monastery of Sankt Florian, near Linz, Austria. Consisting of scenes from the Passion and from the legend of St. Sebastian, the work is striking for its dynamic movements, bold spatial effects with strong foreshortenings and emphatic perspective schemes, influenced by the painting of Michael Pacher and dramatic lighting effects. These characteristics are also present, though more subdued, in the panels of the "Finding of the Body of St. Florian" and the "Birth of the Virgin". During this period, which lasted until about 1526, Altdorfer produced his first pure landscape paintings, of which the "Danube Landscape near Regensburg" is an outstanding example.

In the work of his last period, from about 1526, Altdorfer became increasingly interested in color and in architectural constructions of Renaissance inspiration. This may be observed especially in "Susanna at the Bath" (1526) and the "Allegory of Riches and Poverty" (1531). In the work "Lot and His Daughters" (1537) and the 22 surviving fragments of fresco decoration, that he executed for the Emperor's Bath in the Bishop's Palace, Regensburg, about 1530, Altdorfer adopted Italian Renaissance figure forms, but with a flavor, that was distinctly German. His most important painting of the period, the "Battle of Alexander at Issus" (1529), commissioned by Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria, illustrates Altdorfer's ability to organize a multitude of detail of miniaturistic scale in a cosmological vision, that embraces both sky and terrain.

Among Altdorfer's many drawings, the marginal illustrations he did for the Prayer Book of Emperor Maximilian I in 1515, hold an important place. His engravings share the general characteristics of the Nuremberg school, whose direction was determined by the graphic art of Albrecht Dürer. The earliest ones date between 1506 and 1511, and a larger group belongs to the later years of Altdorfer's life. His graphic work also includes several etchings of landscapes and woodcuts, executed mostly between 1511 and 1522, by skilled woodcut artists after his designs.

Achievements

• Albrecht Altdorfer gained prominence for his contribution to the evolution of landscape painting. Also, he was a major representative of Danube school. His important works include "Battle of Alexander at Issus", "Nativity", "Penitent St. Jerome", "Passion of Christ" and others.

Works

More photos

• design

  • Design of a portal technology

• painting

  • Lovers in a Hay Field

  • Crusade

  • Mary with child

  • Resurrection of Christ

  • Alpine Landscape with Church

  • Holy Night (Nativity)

  • Countryside of wood with Saint George fighting the dragon

  • The battle of Issus (fragment)

  • The St. George killing the dragon art

  • The battle of Issus (fragment)

  • Diptych

  • The Stigmatization of St. Francis

  • Lovers

  • Emperor Maximilian triumphal

  • Landscape with Satyrfamilie

  • Christ on the Cross

  • Beheading of St. Catherine

  • Landscape with a Footbridge

  • Recover the body of St. Sebastian

  • The battle of Issus (fragment)

  • Madonna (Beautiful Maria of Regensburg)

  • Florian result, scenes for legend of St. Florian

  • Saint Peter

  • The Martyrdom of Saint Florian

  • Nativity

  • Lovers

  • Penitent St. Jerome

  • The battle of Issus (fragment)

  • Danube landscape near Regensburg with Scheuchenberg

  • The battle of Issus (fragment)

  • Passion of Christ

  • Landscape

  • The battle of Issus (fragment)

  • Susanna in the Bath

  • Christ taking Leave of his Mother

  • Beheading of John the Baptist

  • The battle of Issus (fragment)

  • Mountain Range

  • Communion of the Apostles

  • The pride of the beggar sitting on the train

  • The Departure of Saint Florain

  • Calvary

  • Passion of Christ

  • The Entrance Hall of the Regensburg Synagogue

  • Passion of Christ

  • The Massacre of the Innocents

  • Portrait of a Woman

  • The battle of Issus(fragment)

  • Emperor Maximilian triumphal

  • Crucifixion

  • Ascension of Christ

  • The battle of Issus(fragment)

  • Wild folk family

  • Friedrich der Siegreiche

  • The battle of Issus (fragment)

  • The Flagellation of Christ

  • The Battle of Alexander at Issus

  • The Large Spruce

  • Birth of Mary

  • Beautiful Mary in the Church

  • Crucifixion scene, Christ on the Cross with Mary and John

  • Mary with the Child

  • Samson and the Lion

  • The battle of Issus (fragment)

  • Lot and his daughter

  • Martyrdom of St. Sebastian

  • Battle between knights and mercenary

  • Nativity

  • Entombment of Christ

  • The Adoration of the Magi

  • Holy Family with an Angel

  • Mary in Glory

• sketch

  • Overall sketch of the picture Susanna and the Elders

• woodcut

  • The Beautiful Virgin of Regensburg

Politics

Albrecht was considered to be an outstanding politician of his day. In 1517, he was a member of the "Ausseren Rates", the council on external affairs, and in this capacity, he was involved in the expulsion of the Jews, the destruction of the synagogue and in its place, he was also involved in the construction of a church and shrine to the Schöne Maria, that occurred in 1519. In 1529-1530, the painter was also charged with reinforcing certain city fortifications in response to the Turkish threat.

Connections

Albrecht Altdorfer was married. His wife died in 1532, leaving him a childless widower.

Father:

Ulrich Altdorfer

Brother:

Erhard Altdorfer

References

• Albrecht Altdorfer and the Origins of Landscape In this book, Christopher S. Wood shows how Altdorfer transformed what had been the mere setting for sacred and historical figures into a principal venue for stylish draftsmanship and idiosyncratic painterly effects. This revised and expanded second edition contains a new introduction, revised bibliography and fifteen additional illustrations.
  2014
• Albrecht Altdorfer
  2012
• Albrecht Altdorfer: 180+ Renaissance Masterpieces This art book contains more than 180 Renaissance reproductions of Altdorfer's landscapes, portraits, religious and mythical subjects.
  2014
• Albrecht Altdorfer: Four Centuries of Criticism
  1981
• Albrecht Altdorfer: 80 Drawings
  2015
• Altdorfer and Fantastic Realism This book contains paintings, drawings, etchings and engravings by Albrecht Altdorfer, Lucas Cranach and other sixteenth-century German artists. It also discusses the typical style of the Danube School.
  1985