Born in Nuremberg, in 1471, the son of a goldsmith of Hungarian origin, Albrecht Dürer was the first major artist to leave behind an important set of self-portraits, ranging from the portrait of his childhood, at the age of 13, sketched in silver point, in wich he already reveals his great drawing skills. In this work from the Museo del Prado, the most famous of all his self-portraits, Dürer depicted himself as a young man - according to the signed autograph legend and with his monogram: "1498 Painted according to my figure at twenty-six years old, Albrecht Dürer AD" -  in an elegant three-quarter pose, leaning gently against the lower ledge of a window overlooking a valley backed by the outline of the foothills of a snow-capped mountain range.