Nuremberg is an important and prosperous city, a center for publishing and many luxury trades.

It has strong links with Italy, especially Venice, a relatively short distance across the Alps.

Very soon after Dürer’s return to Nuremberg, and following an arrangement made during his absence, on July 7, 1494, at the age of twenty-three, he is married to Agnes Frey.

Agnes is the daughter of a prominent brass worker (and amateur harpist) in the city.

No children will result from the marriage, however.

Within three months of his marriage, Dürer leaves for Italy, alone, perhaps stimulated by an outbreak of plague in Nuremberg.