Albrecht Dürer was a German Renaissance artist known for his prints and books on proportions. For over a hundred years, Knight, Death and Devil (cat. 1), Saint Jerome in his office (cat. 2) and Melencolia I (cat. 3) have been considered Dürer's Meisterstiche, or “master prints”.1 There are several different interpretations of these 3 prints, the images they contain and their relationships to each other. These master prints are probably Dürer's best-known works. In 2014 we are on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the creation of Melencolia I and Saint Jerome in his cabinet, they still remain provocative and mysterious. Albrecht Dürer was born in 1471 to Albrecht Dürer the Elder, a goldsmith in Nuremberg, Germany. He was an adept draftsman from an early age; this is evident when we observe his Self-portrait at thirteen. (cat 4) At the age of fifteen, he began his apprenticeship as an artist with Michael Wolgemut. After three years as an apprentice, he traveled throughout Europe and also trained in Venice.2 He fused the idealism of the Italians with the realism and symbolism of the Germans. Although his paintings are remarkable, his real impression was left by his prints. 3Dürer used both woodcut and etching techniques to create art prints that were easy to reproduce and distribute to the general public. Wood engraving consists of carving negative space on a block of wood, leaving a relief which will be inked and then pressed with damp paper. Goldsmiths and metalworkers have used engraving probably since the dawn of civilization to decorate their jewelry and armor. Shortly before Dürer's time it was developed as a method of engraving. In this technique, a chisel is used to cut out the lines the artist desires...... middle of paper ...... reflections on archetypal images. Cologne: Taschen, 2010. 132. Print. Clark Institute. “THE SYMBOLISM OF DÜRER.” The strange world of Albrecht Dürer. Sterling and Franchise Clark Institute, nd Web. May 2, 2014. .United States National Library of Medicine. "Four Humors - And there is humor: Shakespeare and the four humors." United States National Library of Medicine. US National Library of Medicine, September 19, 2013. Web. May 1, 2014. fourhumors.html> Hideko, Ishizu. "Another solution to the polyhedron in Dürer's melencholia: a visual demonstration of the Delian problem." Aesthetics n°13 (2009): 179-194. Japanese Aesthetic Society. Internet. May 1 2014.