Albrecht Dürer, born into a family of goldsmiths and a citizen of Nuremberg often described as the greatest German artist of all time, began an apprenticeship with the painter Michael Wolgemut in 1486 at his own urging. It was in his workshop that many of the woodcuts for the Schedelsche Weltchronik were completed. Periods of stay in Alsace and Basel as well as a journey to Venice preceded the founding of his own workshop in his home town. Another trip to Venice in 1505/06 provided him with more in-depth knowledge of Italian art and teachings about proportion.

Dürer not only made a name for himself as a graphic artist and painter, but was also a writer. His Underweysung der messung mit dem zirckel und richtscheyt in Linien ebnen unnd gantzen corporen (1525) is eloquent testimony to his mathematical knowledge and it also deals in detail with the subject of script. His writings on art and science can be read like a media theory of the Renaissance. Already world famous during his lifetime Dürer, who also had connections at the Germany royal court, died in his home town at the age of 56 as the result of a fever.