The Visitation

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 · Local de trabalho

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.

1511

Publishes the Great Passion and the Life of the Virgin

Dürer published two woodcut series as books, the Great Passion and the Life of the Virgin, with a second edition of the Apocalypse and the 37 woodcuts of the Little Passion. His post-Venetian woodcuts developed chiaroscuro modelling.

1512

Emperor Maximilian I becomes his chief patron

From 1512 Emperor Maximilian I was Dürer's chief patron. For him Dürer and his workshop produced the Triumphal Arch, a giant woodcut 295 × 357 cm printed from 192 blocks and modelled on the triumphal arches of ancient Rome.