Dürer: Colour Library (Phaidon Colour Library)

Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) was one of the greatest artists of the Northern Renaissance, remarkable for the range and versatility of his work. His woodcuts and engravings made him famous throughout Europe and he is still regarded as one of the most brilliant printmakers of all time. Durer was equally successful at religious and secular subjects, paining magnificent altarpieces and powerful portraits. He also produced an impressive range of drawings and watercolours in a variety of media. The son of a Hungarian goldsmith, Durer grew up in Nuremberg, a town half-way between the Netherlands and Italy, and he found inspiration in the work of painters of both these major artistic centres of his time. But rather than simply imitating what others were doing, Durer was very much an innovator; he is the first artist who is known to have painted a self-portrait and to have done a landscape painting of a specific scene. This book contains some of his best-loved works, including A Young Hare and Praying Hands.