# Albrecht Altdorfer artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/albrecht-altdorfer/
Profile generated: 2026-05-09T20:35:44.588Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Death date: 1538-02-12
- Nationality: German
- Movements: Danube School, Northern Renaissance
- Common media: oil painting, engraving, drawing, etching

## About Albrecht Altdorfer

Albrecht Altdorfer (c. 1480–1538) was a German painter, engraver, architect, and draftsman active in Regensburg, Bavaria. A leading figure of the Danube School alongside Lucas Cranach the Elder and Wolf Huber, Altdorfer placed biblical and historical narratives within vividly colored landscape settings, a compositional approach that helped define the movement. He is widely recognized as one of the first Western artists to treat landscape as an independent pictorial subject rather than merely a backdrop. In addition to his painted works, Altdorfer produced intricate small-scale engravings and etchings, placing him among the so-called Nuremberg Little Masters. His career spanned the early decades of the sixteenth century, and his influence extended across both painting and printmaking in the German-speaking world. Collectors today encounter his work primarily through Old Master print and drawing sales, with oil paintings appearing only rarely on the market.

## Common works and media

Altdorfer is represented in auction contexts by small-format oil paintings on panel or parchment, engravings and etchings on paper (often biblical, mythological, or landscape subjects), pen-and-ink drawings with watercolor washes, and woodcuts. His engravings are typically intricate, small-scale compositions reflecting the Little Masters tradition. Painted works include both religious narratives set in panoramic landscapes and rare pure landscape scenes. Architectural designs are documented in scholarly sources but are not commonly traded at auction.

## Market and appraisal context

Altdorfer's surviving oil paintings are exceptionally rare and, when they appear at auction, fall into the highest tier of Old Master sales. Most collectors will encounter his work through engravings, etchings, and drawings, which appear more regularly in Old Master print and drawing auctions. For any Altdorfer work, confirmed attribution is a primary value driver, as workshop participation and later copies complicate the field. Condition, provenance, impression quality for prints, and the specific subject matter all influence appraised value. Pure landscape subjects and works with strong Danube School characteristics tend to attract particular collector interest.

## Appraisily data basis

This artist page combines identity research drawn from Getty ULAN, VIAF, Library of Congress, RKD, and Wikidata authority records with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lot data when those records are available. Appraisily uses this combined evidence to support collectors researching attribution, provenance, and market context for works encountered at auction or in private collections.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q153746
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albrecht_Altdorfer
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500031250
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/100221829/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50053721
- RKD: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/1354