Albrecht Dürer

The greatest Northern Renaissance artist. Dürer brought Italian perspective and classical proportion north of the Alps and transformed printmaking into a major art form. In 1520 he saw the Aztec treasures Cortés sent to Emperor Charles V at Brussels and wrote: 'I have never seen anything that so rejoiced my heart.' His Four Apostles and Melencolia I rank among the most intellectually complex artworks of the 16th century.

• Roles: Painter, Printmaker, Engraver, Mathematician