Albrecht Altdorfer: Maître de la Renaissance allemande

Presented at the Musée du Louvre and organized in collaboration with the Albertina Museum in Vienna, this exhibition offered a rare opportunity to rediscover Albrecht Altdorfer, a visionary artist of the German Renaissance, in what became the first full-scale retrospective of his work ever held in France.

A central figure of the German Renaissance and a leading artist of the Danube School, Altdorfer (c. 1480–1538) was known for his innovative landscape paintings, expressive religious works, and intricate engravings. This richly illustrated volume presents over 200 works, including paintings, drawings, and prints, alongside contextual essays by leading scholars.

The catalog explores Altdorfer’s pioneering use of landscape as a subject in its own right, his architectural imagination, and the visual complexity of masterpieces such as The Battle of Alexander at Issus. It also situates his work within the broader intellectual and artistic currents of early 16th-century Europe.