(Top left) Young Dürer self-portrait with gloves, 52x41 cm, 1498, Prado Museum, Madrid. (Top right) Portrait of Erasmus by Holbein the Younger, 42x32 cm, 1523, Louvre, Paris. (Bottom) Hercules entertained by Omphale, painted by Cranach, 57.5x87 cm, c. 1537, Thyssen Collection, Lugano.

Germany was then divided into many small kingdoms and principalities, yet art centered on two major cities: Cologne (Köln), which bordered the Rhine and was heavily influenced by the Flemish school; and Nuremberg (Nürnberg), the most prosperous hub of German humanism at the time. Located in central Germany, it was said that "the merchants of Nuremberg are richer than the kings of Scotland." It was here that Albrecht Dürer, the most representative painter of the German Renaissance, was born.

The greatest influence on the German Renaissance was the Reformation, deeply shaped by Erasmus's New Testament and Martin Luther's Protestantism. The German Renaissance was directly influenced by Italian Renaissance artists invited to Germany and by prints. Only after discovering new Italian arts through prints did German artists personally travel to Florence, Rome, and Venice, regarding Italy as the cradle of art.

Characteristics of German Renaissance painting include a sensual realism that explores ideal human images through perfect forms and rich colors. In excellent spatial, formal, volumetric, and natural lighting, they displayed the brilliance of humanity. The decisive key for German artistic painting was the Reformation. The main themes of German painting were figures, landscapes, and portraits.

From the mid-16th century, German painting declined rapidly, primarily due to the religious wars triggered by Martin Luther's Reformation. After this period of religious chaos, no beautiful painting art emerged in Germany until the 19th century.

Note - Religious reform propositions of Calvin and Martin Luther in 1517: Prohibited replacing God's image with other images. They detested expressions of idolatry. They believed deification deceived people, interpreting God as purely spiritual. They exposed Catholic idolatrous beliefs in the Virgin Mary and saints, viewing them as superstition and clerical greed. They also condemned the doctrine of Purgatory. They no longer encouraged believers to decorate churches or create religious paintings and sculptures. They questioned medieval doctrinal theories in scriptures. They removed crosses and depictions of Jesus on the cross, considering the worship of religious objects absurd and ridiculous, leading to their destruction.