Portrait of the Nuremberg Painter Michael Wolgemut

This 1516 portrait of Michael Wolgemut in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum depicts Dürer's former master, the painter and printmaker with whom he apprenticed from 1486 to 1490. The inscription records Wolgemut's age as 82, and Dürer later added a note recording his death in 1519 Albrecht Dürer brought Italian Renaissance ideas north, combining German Gothic tradition with classical proportions to become the dominant artist in the German-speaking world.

The aged painter's wrinkled face is rendered with extraordinary precision and respect, every furrow and fold documented with the care of a devoted student portraying his beloved teacher. The plain background focuses attention entirely on the characterful face.