Albrecht Altdorfer 1480-1538

 Albrecht Altdorfer, a German painter, architect, and engraver, is considered to have been the first landscape painter in Western art. Although his birthplace is unknown, Altdorfer spent most of his life in Regensburg, Germany, as city architect and life member of the city council.
     Altdorfer is important to the history of painting as a leading master of the group of 16th-century German artists known as the Danube school. His pictures are characterized by an evocative imagination, ranging from the playful to the grandiose and from the picturesque to the fantastic. Altdorfer's skill as a graphic artist entitles him to a place among the so-called Little Masters, a group of 16th-century German engravers noted for their expert execution of designs on a small scale. His graphic style was influenced by the German painter and engraver Albrecht Durer. Altdorfer's prints include an outstanding series of 9 etched landscapes and a set of 40 engravings collectively called The Fall and Redemption of Man.

Albrecht Altdorfer
View of the Danube 

Valley near Regensburg