Albrecht Altdorfer

The first document that is preserved of him is from 1505, the year in which he obtained citizenship in Regensburg.

No information is known of his apprenticeship, although the detail of the painting suggests that he was a miniaturist.

The possibility that he could be the son of the painter and illustrator Ulrich Altdorfer, last documented in 1491 in Regensburg, has also been mentioned.

Albrecht Altdorfer resides all his life in that city, where in addition to working as a painter, printmaker, stained glass designer and municipal architect, he plays a prominent role in local politics, becoming mayor in 1528.

During his first stage, Altdorfer used a monogram consisting of a double A. to sign his works.

There is no news that Altdorfer travels to Italy, but influences from Italian painting can be seen in his work, especially allegorical and mythological subjects, which he probably knew from prints.

He admires and studies the work of Dürer and Cranach.

Although most of his works are religious in nature, his contribution to German painting is his innovative conception of landscape.

He was, together with Wolf Huber, the central figure of the Danube School, responsible for the development of landscape as an independent genre.

Landscape with a bridge, at the National Gallery in London, and Landscape with a castle, at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, are considered by many to be the first paintings of the genre in Europe.

He also makes numerous drawings and engravings exclusively dedicated to the subject.

Altdorfer is a famous painter who receives important commissions throughout his life. He works for Maximilian I, and his most important work, The Battle of Alexander, kept in Munich in the Alte Pinakothek, is executed in 1529 on behalf of Count William IV of Bavaria.