Altdorfer, Albrecht

Altdorfer, Albrecht (äl`brĕkht ältdôr`fər), 1480–1538, German painter and engraver. He served as city architect of Regensburg, where much of his life was spent. Although influenced by Dürer, Altdorfer's works are less severe in mood. Altdorfer may have been the first German to paint pure landscape, of which the Danube Landscape at Regensburg (1522–25) is typical. His varied subject matter included allegorical and biblical themes such as Susannah at the Bath (1526) and Birth of the Virgin (c.1521). The Battle of Alexander (1529) displays his penchant for detailed, panoramic vistas. All four works are in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich. Equally skilled at woodcutting and engraving, Altdorfer often executed one subject in a variety of media.

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Altdorfer, Albrecht

(born c. 1480—died Feb. 12, 1538, Regensburg) German painter and printmaker. He was the leading artist of the Danube school. Most of his works depict religious subjects, but he was one of the first artists to develop landscape painting as an independent genre, specializing in sunset lighting and ruins in twilight. His drawings demonstrate these skills in black with white highlights on dark paper. The influence of Albrecht Dürer is evident in his miniature engravings and woodcuts. From 1526 until his death he was town architect of Regensburg; no architectural work of his is known to have survived.