Painter

Albrecht Dürer

Albrecht Dürer was a German Renaissance artist whose watercolors, drawings, engravings, and woodcuts paired close observation with technical precision.

Albrecht Dürer quick facts

Dürer moved between oil painting, watercolor, and precise studies on paper, bringing close observation and technical control to Northern Renaissance art.

Albrecht Dürer quick facts
Full name	Albrecht Dürer
Born	May 21, 1471 · Nuremberg
Died	April 6, 1528 · Nuremberg
Nationality	German
Movements	Northern Renaissance
Paint types	Watercolor · Gouache · Oil paint
Other media	Drawing, engraving, woodcut, and drypoint
Other materials	—
Painting surfaces	Paper · Wood · Linen · Silk · Parchment (gouache studies)
Painting methods	Builds detailed nature studies with watercolor washes, fine bodycolor brushstrokes, and opaque highlights; also paints in oil on wood panels
Common subjects	Portraits, religious scenes, animals, plants, landscapes, and studies of proportion
Notable works	Young Hare · Great Piece of Turf · Melencolia I · Knight, Death and the Devil

Sources: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Met: Virgin and Child, National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art: Tuft of Cowslips, National Gallery of Art: Portrait of a Clergyman (Johann Dorsch?), Virtual Museum of Nuremberg Art: Saint James the Apostle, and Albertina.

Paint types used by Albrecht Dürer

Dürer used oil on wood panels and made watercolor and gouache works on paper; the examples below distinguish these media through museum-cataloged works.

Watercolor

The Albertina catalogs The Hare (1502) as watercolor and bodycolor, heightened with white. The sheet records Dürer’s close study of an animal through layered, highly controlled color. Because the catalog separates watercolor from bodycolor, the entry preserves both terms instead of treating the work as transparent watercolor alone.
Gouache

The National Gallery of Art identifies Tuft of Cowslips (1526) as gouache on parchment. Its close attention to a small cluster of wildflowers shows Dürer applying opaque water-based paint to a prepared sheet, a different documented example from the Albertina’s watercolor-and-bodycolor Hare.
Oil paint

The Met records Virgin and Child as oil on spruce, documenting Dürer’s use of oil on a rigid wooden panel. That support differs from the paper and parchment used for his studies. The collection entry supports the medium and support directly, without assuming that his panel technique extended unchanged to every work.

Sources: Albertina Museum: The Hare; National Gallery of Art: Tuft of Cowslips; The Met: Virgin and Child.

Painting surfaces used by Albrecht Dürer

Dürer’s records document paper for watercolor and drawing and wooden panels for paintings, alongside experiments on linen and silk in selected works.

Paper

Dürer’s watercolor and drawing studies include the Albertina’s The Hare and Great Piece of Turf, both made on paper. The sheet carries fine observational detail and differs from the wooden panels used for his oil paintings. Museum records document paper directly for these works.
Wood

The Met records Dürer’s Virgin and Child as oil on spruce, documenting the use of a wooden panel. This rigid support differs from paper and parchment used for his studies. The collection record names the species of wood, providing a specific example rather than an assumption based on Renaissance practice.
Linen

The National Gallery of Art notes that Dürer sometimes used linen among his experimental supports. This places linen within a documented but occasional part of his practice, distinct from the wood panels and sheets used more often. The source establishes the material without implying it was a standard support across his paintings.
Silk

The National Gallery of Art notes Dürer’s occasional use of silk as a painting support. This documents an experimental textile support alongside more familiar paper and wooden panels, but does not establish silk as routine or name a specific work.

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