Dürer, who lived from 1471 to 1528, explored numerous themes—mythological, natural, sacred, and secular. He had an unerring, encyclopedic eye for observable particularities: hairs, feathers, and wrinkles, subtle shifts in light and facial expression. (His mechanical perspective device was the first step toward the photographic camera.) But it is not Dürer’s astounding details that ultimately wow us. It is his miraculous ability to fuse observed minutiae into believable, emotionally expressive, and metaphorically rich wholes. He is that rare visionary who gives us the forest and the trees, and a wonderful story besides. Dürer elevated the popular woodcut to high art, but he was also the greatest and most prolific of the early printmakers—and the first world-famous artist. On the 500th anniversary of the artist’s birth, the Hermitage, in conjunction with the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, presents 400 Dürers. Woodcuts and printmaking are the focus. —Lance Esplund