(b ?Amberg, c.1480; d Regensburg, 12 Feb. 1538). German painter, printmaker, draughtsman, and architect, active in Regensburg, of which town he was a citizen from 1505 onwards. Nothing is recorded of his training, but his early work was influenced by Cranach and he was also familiar with Dürer's woodcuts and engravings. Mingled with these German elements was a knowledge of the art of Mantegna, perhaps through the mediation of Michael Pacher. Yet in spite of these varied influences Altdorfer's style always remained personal. Most of his paintings are religious works, but he was one of the first artists to show an interest in landscape as an independent genre. In works such as Christ Taking Leave of His Mother (?1520, NG, London) he achieved a wonderful unity of mood between action and landscape, and two pure landscape paintings (without any figures) by him are known (NG, London, and Alte Pin.