Apelles of the black line

This exhibition, held in conjunction with “A Divine Light: Northern Renaissance Paintings from the Bob Jones University Museum & Gallery,” and drawn from the permanent collection of the Georgia Museum of Art, highlighted the prints of Albrecht Dürer, perhaps the most important Northern Renaissance artist and one of the most accomplished printmakers in Western art. Described by Desiderius Erasmus and many others as “Apelles of the black line,” a reference to the renowned ancient Greek painter, Dürer created highly naturalistic works, suggesting depth and texture using only the black lines of etching, engraving and woodcut. He further advanced the medium by helping create a market and distribution system for his works. The exhibition also included an etching by Michael Wolgemut, with whom Dürer apprenticed, and a selection of prints by Northern artists deeply indebted to Dürer, such as Lucas van Leyden, Hans Sebald Beham, Heinrich Aldergrever and Hendrik Goltzius.