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Albrecht Dürer, born on May 21, 1471 in Nuremberg, Germany, is widely regarded as the greatest German Renaissance painter. His contribution to painting and engraving is quite significant and has left a notable mark on the art world. Dürer's early life was spent in Nuremberg, a city that played a crucial role in his development as an artist and was also the site of his death on April 6, 1528. He was the son of the goldsmith Albrecht Dürer the Elder, from whom he initially learned the basics of drawing and metalworking.
Dürer's work is characterized by a combination of Gothic elements with the emerging Renaissance style, which is evident in his woodcuts and engravings. His oeuvre encompasses many themes, including religious works, altarpieces, portraits, and self-portraits. His outstanding prints, such as The Knight, Death and the Devil (1513), St. Jerome in his Study (1514) and Melencolia I (1514), are known for their intricate detail and artistic skill. Dürer was also one of the earliest European landscape painters, as evidenced by his watercolor paintings.
Equally significant are his theoretical writings on mathematics, perspective, and ideal proportions in art. Dürer was not only an artist but also a keen intellectual, his interests encompassing various aspects of culture and science. He served as court painter to Holy Roman Emperors Maximilian I and Charles V, completing several significant art projects for them. Dürer's keen mind and versatile interests brought him into contact with the most prominent figures of his time, including theologians and scientists of the Reformation era.
Dürer's self-portraits are particularly famous, demonstrating not only his artistic skill but also his self-awareness and personal style. These portraits attest to his growing success and confidence as an artist. Dürer's legacy is immense; he influenced not only the art of his time, but also left an indelible mark on the history of European art.
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Francesco Petrarca was an Italian poet, the founder of European humanism, and one of the greatest figures of the Italian Proto-Renaissance.
Petrarca studied at the University of Montpellier, then at the University of Bologna, in 1330 entered the service of Cardinal Giovanni Colonna as a chaplain. Then he made various pilgrimages, in 1353 settled in Milan at the court of Archbishop Giovanni Visconti, and carried out important diplomatic missions. Petrarca spent the last years of his life in the village of Arquà near Padua.
Since 1337 Petrarca began to write literary works: these were historical poems in Latin and lyric poems in Italian. In 1327 Francesco saw Laura for the first time, undivided love for which was the main source of his poetry. Laura was for him an object of adoration and pure platonic love. Despite the fact that they saw each other only a few times and were not really acquainted, Petrarca carried this feeling through his life.
Passionate about ancient culture, Petrarch deciphered and commented on the manuscripts of Cicero, Quintilian and others. He opposed medieval scholasticism interest in the earthly purpose of man, argued that the nobility of man depends not on the nobility of origin, but on his virtue. Petrarca highly valued the mind and creative abilities of man, and these humanistic ideas found vivid expression in his lyrics, revealing the inner world of man. Petrarca's work laid the foundation for the formation of Italian humanism. He also dreamed of the unification of Italy, the revival of the former greatness of Rome.
Francesco Petrarca had one of the richest libraries of his time, where ancient Roman writers, poets, historians, philosophers were represented. He was one of the brightest representatives of the culture of the Renaissance. Petrarca's works are characterized by perfection of form and musicality of verse, which played a significant role in the development of European poetry. Among his works are the poem "Africa" about the Second Punic War in Latin, allegorical pastoral eclogues "Bucolics" (1346/1357), a book of songs "My Italy", "Noble Spirit", sonnets, etc.
