John Huss was received here by an enthusiastic populace; but when the reformer's army laid waste the country, the people of Nuremberg valiantly withstood the enemy. When the wave of the Reformation swept the land, Nuremberg gave a welcome to Martin Luther, and his revised ritual of worship was used in the churches. Melanchthon also came to the town, and established a school there, though the institution was not successful. A statue of the "gentle" reformer was set up in Nuremberg. Civil strife disturbed the town in 1552, but a period of peace followed, and a few years later saw the founding of the university. The Thirty Years' War brought disaster upon Nuremberg. The army of Wallenstein attacked the ancient walls, and the outer entrenchments which had been constructed by the inhabitants upon the rumour of war. Led by Gustavus, the soldiers and people of the town opposed the vast forces of Wallenstein that encompassed the fortifications in a series of camps. Hunger and plague assailed the besieged within the gates, while without the foe cut off escape, and barred the entrance of food supplies. For weeks the siege endured. Thousands died from disease, thousands were slain by the enemy. In a valiant sally, Gustavus led his troops to the attack. The battle raged for hours, and both sides suffered terrible losses. Nuremberg might have fallen had Wallenstein been able to rally his hungry soldiers, but, as it was, he withdrew his force. Let us now review the peaceful arts of the city. The record of Albert Durer's life shows the character of a deeply religious man, devoted to his faith, and absorbed by his art. He was reared in Nuremberg, and was the son of a working goldsmith. Born in 1471, Durer was apprenticed at an early age to his father's craft, in which, however, he did not excel, for his heart was set upon following the profession of a painter. His first master in the art was Wolgemut, whose portrait is one of Durer's finest works. The young artist spent some time in Italy, studying, among other paintings, the work of Mantegna, and, on returning to his native town, he applied himself most industriously to his art. Albert Durer's pictures are scattered among the galleries of the world. Durer, in painting landscape, showed a singular modern feeling. In his portraits he was a realist, analytical in the use of his brush, and especially painstaking in painting fine hair, for which he used ordinary brushes with extreme dexterity, much to the amazement of Bellini. In the Germanic Museum at Nuremberg there are five pictures by the master, and some copies of his works. The bulk of his paintings are in other galleries at Munich, Berlin, London, and elsewhere.