Albrecht Dürer

One of the foremost printmaking pioneers in art history was Albrecht Dürer. In addition to his highly successful production of prints, he was also a painter and art theoretician. He became a goldsmith’s apprentice at the age of thirteen, and then trained as a painter. He found inspiration for his art on travels to Italy, among other places. One of his early printmaking successes was a series of illustrations made in 1498, on the theme of the Apocalypse, from the Book of Revelations in the Bible. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse belongs to this series. Thanks to Dürer’s refinement of printing techniques, such as engraving and woodcut, printmaking reached new heights. After this, printmaking was no longer considered part of arts and crafts; rather, it was regarded as an independent art form.