November 16, 2007 - January 7, 2008 Sabatini Gallery Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) learned metalworking from his father in Nuremberg, Germany. He later used similar skills to make meticulously wrought woodcuts and engravings. Dürer also learned art techniques and theories from artists he met while traveling. He was particularly impressed by Italian ideas and innovations. When he returned to Germany after more than a year in Venice, he published treatises on perspective, ideal human proportion and art theory. Dürer became known as the father of the Northern European Renaissance, and the "Leonardo of the North" for his diverse interests. The Catholic Church was Dürer's main patron. In the seventeenth century, a flowering of the arts in the Netherlands produced some of the world's greatest artists: Rembrandt van Rijn was one of the most celebrated of the Dutch Golden Age. His works feature people (including himself), historical events and religious narratives. Rembrandt's unique ability to convincingly depict human emotions is evidenced in paintings, prints and drawings. Rembrandt, like most seventeenth-century Dutch artists, worked primarily for middle class merchants and wealthy professionals. Naturally, there were some exceptions: the artist received commissions from Prince Frederick Henry of Orange and his secretary, Constantijn Huygens, for example. Religion inspired both artists, who frequently depicted Jesus' life and other Bible stories. They also sought inspiration in the lives of the saints and non-canonical writings. The exhibition includes several pairs of works contrasting two versions of the same subject. Rembrandt owned many of Dürer's prints, and the older artist's influence is apparent in some of his art. Differences reflect individual interpretations and working styles, rooted in the historical and cultural realities of the times. It is in the pairings of prints that the title of the exhibition reveals its full meaning. The Inspired Line refers not only to the lines etched or carved by the artists to produce these remarkable prints: it also suggests a lineage, a succession of master printmakers whose inspiration continues to be felt—down the line—to the present. The Inspired Line: Selected Prints of Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt van Rijn from the Thrivent Financial Collection of Religious Art comes from the corporate holdings of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a financial services membership organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Appleton, Wisconsin. The collection of more than 800 works has been listed in the top 100 corporate art collections in the United States by Art & Auction magazine. The Collection includes religious-themed prints and drawings from the thirteenth through the twentieth centuries by European and American artists.