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Europe 1300 - 1800
Course: Europe 1300 - 1800 > Unit 6
Lesson 4: Albrecht Dürer- Who was Albrecht Dürer?
- Albrecht Dürer
- Dürer, The Triumphal Arch or Arch of Honor
- Dürer, Self-portrait, Study of a Hand and a Pillow
- Dürer, Self-portrait (1498)
- Dürer, Self-portrait (1500)
- Dürer, Self-portrait
- Dürer, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
- Dürer, the Large Piece of Turf
- Albrecht Dürer, Adam and Eve
- Dürer, Adam and Eve
- Dürer, Melencolia
- Decoding art: Dürer's Melencolia I
- What is Melencolia?
- Dürer, Four Apostles
- Dürer's woodcuts and engravings
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Albrecht Dürer
Born in Nuremberg, Dürer was apprenticed to the painter Michel Wolgemut. He travelled widely from 1492 to 1494, visiting Schongauer's workshop in Colmar, the leading German painter and engraver at the time. From 1494-5 he visited northern Italy, where the works of artists such as Mantegna and Giovanni Bellini had a powerful influence on him.
A painter, printmaker and theorist
In 1495 Dürer set up his own workshop in Nuremberg, specializing in the production of innovative, high quality prints, such as the Apocalypse series of 1498, and paintings. From 1505 to 1507 he revisited Venice, where he painted the Feast of the Garlands, for the German merchants (National Gallery, Prague). Dürer's revitalization of print-making techniques attracted the attention of many Nuremberg scholars and patrons. They informed Dürer about the intellectual studies of the Italian Renaissance and advised on subjects for his art. He later published his ideas on art theory.
His woodcuts inspired the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian I to use the medium for colossal commemorative projects, in which Dürer played a leading part. Dürer excelled at a variety of drawing, painting and printing techniques. His Europe-wide fame rested on his graphic art. The Renaissance scholar and writer, Erasmus (1469-1536), called him "the Apelles of black lines," a reference to the most famous, ancient Greek artist. The British Museum's collection of Dürer's prints and drawings is one of the finest and covers his entire career. The Museum also houses some of the blocks for his woodcuts.
The Triumphal Arch
The Triumphal Arch is one of the largest prints ever produced. It was commissioned by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519). The program was devised by the court historian and mathematician, Johann Stabius, who explains underneath that it was constructed after the model of 'the ancient triumphal arches of the Roman Emperors'.
Above the central arch, entitled "Honor and Might," is a genealogy of Maximilian in the form of a family tree. Above the left arch, "Praise," and the right arch, "Nobility," are represented events from his life. These are flanked by busts of emperors and kings on the left, and a column of Maximilian's ancestors on the right. The outermost towers on either side show scenes from the private life of Maximilian.
The architect and painter Jörg Kölderer designed the overall appearance of the structure, and Dürer designed the individual scenes and architectural elements, some of which he sub-contracted to his pupils Hans Springinklee and Wolf Traut, and Albrecht Altdorfer of Regensburg.
The date 1515, which appears on the Arch, refers to the completion of the designs; the blocks were cut by Hieronymus Andreae of Nuremberg between 1515 and 1517. This impression belongs to the first edition of 1517-18 when about seven hundred sets were printed, but they are today very rare. It is undecorated apart from the word Halt in the German Halt Mass ("Keep to moderation") which is gilded.
Suggested readings:
G. Bartrum (ed.), Albrecht Dürer and his legacy (London and N.J., The British Museum Press and Princeton University Press, 2002).
E. Panofsky, The life and art of Albrecht Dürer (Princeton University Press, 1945, 1971).
G. Bartrum, German Renaissance prints (London, The British Museum Press, 1995).
© Trustees of the British Museum
Want to join the conversation?
- I love the irony from the last line..."It is undecorated apart from the word Halt in the German Halt Mass ("Keep to moderation") which is gilded." Leave it to the statement to "keep to moderation" to be gilded! Regardless, I must say that The Triumphal Arch is an absolutely masterful work...it says that it was printed using "192 individual blocks"...then how come we cannot see a single line of the ink between where the blocks must have touched? Was Albrect Durer just that good?(10 votes)
- It does state in the essay that the blocks were actually cut by Hieronymus Andreae, so he deserves at least some of the credit. Actually I found that the blocks were visible, especially when looking at the sky element, although I might not have if you hadn't have mentioned it.(2 votes)
- I would like to know how the mathematician advised on these prints, and to learn how so many blocks are set together to make a print this large and complex.(2 votes)
- HI! Who is your favorite My Hero character mine is,
1.Midoriya
2.Bakugou
3.iida
4.momo
5.sue
6.treorchy.(dont laugh. I don't know how to spell his name.)(1 vote) - All i want to know is why does he do what he does?Why did he want to become a painter or a printer?Why?WHY did he want to become one the famous Renaissance dude? DID he want to become one or did he have no choice?(1 vote)
- He may have been following a divine calling.
He may have been following his bliss.
He may have seen these occupations as fitting his talents.
He may have been trying to impress girls.(1 vote)