Albrecht Dürer

Albrecht Dürer made Nuremberg the centre of art north of the Alps – with woodcuts and engravings that spread throughout Europe.

Life

Born in Nuremberg in 1471, the son of a goldsmith, he first learned his father’s craft and then painting with Michael Wolgemut. Two journeys to Italy, in 1494–95 and 1505–07, acquainted him with the Renaissance. He published his own prints – the “Apocalypse” of 1498 made him famous. Emperor Maximilian I was among his patrons. He wrote books on proportion and geometry and died in Nuremberg in 1528.

Style & technique

Dürer’s strength is the line. In his engravings he used the finest strokes to create light, fur, metal and skin; his woodcuts are powerful and clear. He combined the close observation of nature typical of the north – the “Young Hare”, the “Great Piece of Turf” – with Italian theories of proportion and perspective. And he proudly placed his AD monogram in almost every picture.

Look closely

• The monogram: find the large A with the small D inside it.
• The hatching: cross-hatching and dots create light and shadow – use the zoom.
• The details: blades of grass, hair, tools – nothing is incidental.

Timeline

• 1471: Born in Nuremberg.
• 1494–1495: First journey to Italy.
• 1498: Woodcut series “Apocalypse”.
• 1514: Engraving “Melencolia I”.
• 1528: Dies in Nuremberg.

Works in the museum

• The Rhinoceros
• Adam and Eve
• The Holy Family with the Three Hares
• Knight, Death and Devil
• Saint Jerome in His Study
• Melencolia I
• Portrait of a Clergyman (Johann Dorsch?)
• Madonna and Child [obverse]
• An Eastern Ruler Seated on His Throne
• Female Nude Praying
• An Eastern Ruler Seated on His Throne
• The Virgin Annunciate
• The Centaur Family
• The Martyrdom of Saint John
• The Dream of the Doctor (Temptation of the Idler)
• Saint Jerome Penitent in the Wilderness
• The Martyrdom of Saint John
• The Betrayal of Christ
• The Triumphal Chariot of Maximilian I (The Great Triumphal Car) [plate 1 of 8]
• The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine
• The Whore of Babylon
• The Four Angels Holding the Winds
• The Angel with the Key to the Bottomless Pit
• The Opening of the Fifth and Sixth Seal
• The Beast with Two Horns LIke a Lamb
• The Adoration of the Lamb
• Knight, Death and Devil
• The Seven Angels with the Trumpets
• Saint Jerome by the Pollard Willow
• The Man of Sorrows Mocked by a Soldier
• The Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand
• The Virgin Appearing to Saint John
• The Knight on Horseback and the Lansquenet
• Hercules Conquering Cacus ("Ercules")
• Nemesis (The Great Fortune)
• Saint John Devouring the Book
• Christ on the Cross Between the Virgin and Saint John
• A Pastoral Landscape with Shepherds Playing a Viola and Panpipes
• Lot and His Daughters [reverse]
• Christ on the Mount of Olives