Albrecht Durer - An artist drawing a seated man (1525), Albrecht Dürer, 1525

Albrecht durer an artist drawing a seated man 1525 an important mechanical device designed to help the portraitist was a square pane of glass upon which the artist traced the outlines of the sitter. From here the outlines were copied onto the panel. The artist would view his sitter through a peep-hole located at the top of a rod whose height could sometimes - as seen above - be adjusted. This machine enabled artists to apply the principles of centralized perspective described in leon battista alberti's treatise on painting (c. 1435). Date: 1525.