Narodenie Márie

1500

Jacopo de' Barbari and the secret of proportion

The Venetian Jacopo de' Barbari, whom Dürer had met in Venice, came to Nuremberg, and Dürer said he learned much from him about perspective, anatomy and proportion. Feeling that de' Barbari would not explain everything he knew, Dürer began studies of his own that became a lifelong preoccupation.

1501–1502

In the circle of Nuremberg's humanists

Through his lifelong friend Willibald Pirckheimer, Dürer entered the circle of Nuremberg's humanists. He engraved illustrations for Conrad Celtis's editions of Hrotsvitha (1501) and of his Four Books of Love (1502), and decorated 14 books in Pirckheimer's library with drawings.

1502

Death of his father

Albrecht Dürer the Elder died, and his son took on the care of his mother and his two younger brothers, Endres and Hans.

1504 · Workplace

Lutherstadt Wittenberg

1505

Second journey to Italy

Dürer set off for Italy again — perhaps not only to earn money but also to stop Marcantonio Raimondi from copying his prints. His stay in Venice is known from ten surviving letters to Pirckheimer.

1505–1507

Friendship with Giovanni Bellini

Dürer considered Giovanni Bellini “the best in painting”, the only Venetian master with whom he became friends. The Madonna of the Siskin may have been painted at Bellini's request.