Artist and Humanist, Albrecht Durer is one of the most significant figures in the history f European art outside Italy during the Renaissance (Gowing 195). Portraying the questioning spirit of the Renaissance, Durer's conviction that he must examine and explore his own situation through capturing the very essence of his role as artist and creator, is reflected in the Self-portrait in a Fur Collared Robe (Strieder 10). With the portrait, Durer's highly self-conscious approach to his status as an artist coveys his exalted mission of art more clearly than in any other painting. He seems to be less concerned with himself as a person than with himself as an artist, and less with the artist than with the origin and exalted mission of art itself. (Strieder 13). In this self-portrait Durer portrays himself in the guise of the Savior.