Albrecht Altdorfer and the origins of landscape

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Altdorfer's landscapes offer a densely textured interpretation of that quintessentially German place, the forest interior. As Wood explains, however, these scenes far from doctrinally innocent: the forest that Altdorfer painted, drew, and etched is both a refuge from Christian rites and a mythical setting of idolatry. In producing his landscapes, Altdorfer flaunted and exaggerated the formal principles of a regional pictorial tradition. Wood demonstrates that the abrasive surface effects, incessant ornamental movement, and structural impenetrability of these pictures make them the incunabula of a self-resistance to literal readings, Altdorfer's landscapes also resemble the exactly contemporary pastorals and allegories of Giovanni Bellini, Lorenzo Lotto, and Giorgione. Because of Altdorfer's influence on the next generation of German and Netherlandish artists, his work forms a crucial link between Northern religious imagery and the modern development of landscape of a genre.