To the Fair and Studious Readers of the Liberal Arts:

If I had decided that anything should be said about painting in this place, I would have celebrated it not so much with praises as with lamentation. For who among you can be unaware of the honors belonging to this most lauded art? Indeed, who would find fault with me, rather than thinking I ought to pursue with grief and tears the loss of its flowering and the neglect of its regrowth? But it was not my intention to speak of the art itself now, but rather to discuss, by a certain necessity, the artist who is the author of this book, and our own work. I trust that he has become known through his virtue and merits, not only to his own country but even to foreign nations. I understand well enough that his praises do not wait for our public proclamations, especially since his exceptional works leave him adorned and enriched with everlasting glory. Nevertheless, we judged it appropriate—both because we were publishing his inventions and because the occasion was given to commit to writing the life and character of a most noble man and our very dear friend—to weave together what we have learned of him, partly from the talk of others and partly as eyewitnesses. This will offer some declaration of his dexterity and singular genius, both as an artist and as a man, and will also bring no small pleasure to the readers.

We have learned that our Albrecht originated from Hungary original: "pannonia" — the Roman province roughly corresponding to modern-day Hungary, where Dürer's father's family originated., but his ancestors moved to Germany. Regarding his origin and birth, therefore, there will be no room for a lengthy speech; for even if they were honorable, it is certain that they received more splendor from him than they bestowed upon him. Nature had given him a body conspicuous in its composition and stature, suited to the beautiful mind it contained. In this, Hippocrates A famous Greek physician (c. 460 – c. 370 BCE) often called the "Father of Medicine." Camerarius is referring to the ancient idea that a person's physical appearance reflects their inner character.—whose justice nature is accustomed to extol—did not forget him; for just as she wove a ridiculous body for the ridiculously-minded ape, so she is accustomed to surround noble minds with appropriate bodies.

His head was keen, his eyes flashing, his nose noble and what the Greeks call well-proportioned original: "τετράγωνον" (tetragonon) — literally "square" or "four-cornered," used here to describe a sturdy, harmonious, and classically "noble" facial structure.. His neck was somewhat long, his chest broad, his stomach lean, his thighs muscular, and his legs steady. But you would have said you had seen nothing more elegant than his fingers. Furthermore, there was such sweetness in his speech and such wit that nothing was more unpleasant to his listeners than the end of his talking. To be sure, he had not pursued the study of letters A common humanist trope; while Dürer was not a university-trained scholar of Latin ("letters"), he was highly educated in practical and scientific matters., but he had nonetheless mastered the knowledge of those things which are taught by them, especially of natural and mathematical things. Just as he understood the primary principles of these things and knew how to explain them in practice, so he also knew how to declare them in speech. His writings on Geometry Dürer’s "Manual of Measurement" (1525) was the first book on mathematics published in German. testify to this; in them, I do not see what more could be required of that science, at least as far as he judged it should be treated by himself.

He was carried by a great ardor of mind toward embracing all honesty of character and life, which he maintained so well that he was deservedly held to be an excellent man. Yet he was not of a gloomy severity or an offensive gravity; on the contrary, whatever is thought to contribute to sweetness and cheerfulness—provided it was not alien to honesty or right—he did not neglect in his youth, and even as an old man he approved of such things, as are the remnants of gymnastics and Music.

But above all else, nature had fashioned him for painting; wherefore he embraced the study of it with all his strength, and he was possessed by a care for learning the works of lauded painters everywhere among nations, and for understanding their methods and imitating what he approved of. Among these, he both experienced the kindness and attained the favor of the greatest kings and princes, and even of Maximilian Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (reigned 1493–1519), Dürer's primary royal patron. himself and his grandson Charles, the August Emperors original: "Caroli AVGG." — Charles V (reigned 1519–1556). "AVGG" is an abbreviation for "Augusti," a plural imperial title., being honored by them with a non-negligible salary. But once his hand had reached, so to speak, maturity, then you could understand his sublime genius, loving of virtue, especially from his works. For he made all such things grand and of praiseworthy subject matter. There exist his praises of Maximilian, and there exist his immortal works of astronomical history Referring to Dürer's woodcuts of the celestial maps and his work on the "Triumphal Procession" for Maximilian., concerning which things I have mentioned...