Meder, J: Durer-Katalog

Durer, Albrecht (1471-1528), German painter, printmaker, draughtsman and art theorist, is generally regarded as the greatest German Renaissance artist. His vast body of work includes alterpieces and religious works, numerous portraits and self-portraits, and copper engravings. His woodcuts, such as the Apocalypse series (1498), retain a more Gothic flavour than the rest of his work. Born in Nurnberg as the third son of the Hungarian goldsmith, Albrecht Durer began as an apprentice to his father in 1485, but his earliest known work, one of his many self portraits, was made in 1484. He died in Nürnberg in 1528. Meder's catalogue raisonne remains a standard work in the field. It includes 294 entries, with descriptions in millimeters. Inscriptions, states, and successive editions within individual states are described. Paper, watermarks and print quality are also treated. Riggs, The Print Council Index of Oeuvre-Catalogues, page 238. Cloth. Oversized Octavo. xxiii, [1], 357 p. illus. (incl. coats of arms) LII plates. 29 cm. Originally published in Vienna: Gilhofer & Rauschburg, 1932