An exhibition titled “I believe in Dürer” has been running in Nuremberg until November 5th 2000 at the Kunsthalle while another, devoted to that master's engravings has been taking place at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum until January 9th 2001. Nuremberg was Dürer's birthplace and the artist should have followed in the footsteps of his father as a goldsmith. Instead he chose to become an artist and first started to learn engraving.
He soon became notorious throughout Europe with his prints relating to many subjects such as allegories, themes from the Bible and portraits.
Dürer (1471-1528) was the first German artist who introduced Germany to the Renaissance concepts and became a national symbol in his country.
Nuremberg is celebrating its 950th anniversary and the exhibition “I believe in Dürer” regroups works created by contemporary artists during the past three decades, notably with a wink given to Dürer by Joseph Beuys in one of his works.
Meanwhile, the National Museum is exhibiting some 300 prints, mostly from the collection of Otto Schäfer, produced by Dürer.