Five full centuries lie between us and the life of Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). His ability to represent a subject with an absolute fidelity to every detail seemed miraculous to his contemporaries, and still astounds us now: we need only think of his water-colours of plants and animals.

In addition, Dürer was the first painter to devote such close attention to the art of the self-portrait. No artist before him painted as many as he. The works by Dürer collected in this book show the full range of this artist's unique genius.

The work of Albrecht Dürer was a great summation of the achievement of art as the Middle Ages drew to a close.

To this day, the mastery expressed in his precision drawing and sensuous instinct for colour has retained its fascination.