When you think of the Renaissance, the Italians or Italy usually come to mind, where artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti and Raffaello Sanzio trained, studied and worked. These artists obviously reside mainly in Southern Europe, but what about Northern European countries like Germany? What were the Germans doing and how did this new way of thinking and this new use of techniques and tools spread there, in Germany and in other countries? Many believe that Albrecht Dürer was the primary catalyst and one of the most important contributors to the Northern Renaissance. Many artists visited Italy at the time of the Italian Renaissance, but Dürer seemed to be someone who fully embraced the ideas that were introduced and immediately began to incorporate techniques and ideas into his work. His passion for the revival of the arts and his craft in general made him one of the greatest and most important artists of his period. Durer was a German artist with many talents including printmaking, painting, engraving and goldsmithing. He was born in Germany on May 21, 1471 to his father, who was a goldsmith. In turn, Dürer learned metalworking methods as a teenager. However, although his metalwork was indeed good, he would later be known for his woodblock prints and paintings more than his metalwork. Around the age of fifteen, his father saw that Dürer was particularly good at drawing than metalworking. Although he would have preferred his son to continue working as a goldsmith, he let Dürer begin an apprenticeship with Michael Wolgemut, a German painter and engraver, to develop these skills he saw in his son. Immediately after this apprenticeship, Dur...... middle of paper ......ction." SUNY Oneonta | Home. Web. November 29, 2011. .Photo• MacPhail, Catherine. Nemesis: into the Shadows. London: Bloomsbury, 2006. Print.• “Albrecht Dürer: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (19.73.209) | Chronology of Heilbrunn art history | The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Home. Web. 29 November 2011. .• "Albrecht Dürer: Adam and Eve (19.73.1) | Chronology of Heilbrunn art history | The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Home. Web. 29 November 2011. .• "Self-portrait, Albrecht Dürer." Fine art prints on canvas, giclée reproductions by Illusions Gallery. Web. 29 November. 2011. .