Self-portrait,
Year of creation: 1500.
Wood, oil.
Original size: 67×49 cm.
Alte Pinakothek, Munich / Selbstbildnis im Pelzrock, 1500. Öl auf Holz. 67 × 49 cm. Alte Pinakothek, Munich.
Description of the painting by Albrecht Durer “Self-Portrait”
This wonderful painting was kept away from prying eyes for a very long time. The family did not want to show it to the general public. It was written from the front, somewhere in 1500. It was innovative. Previously, portraits were depicted in half-profile, in profile. In the form that Dürer painted, only images related to religion could be depicted. And in our time, this self-portrait enjoys enormous popularity and fame.
“Self-portrait” or otherwise called “Self-portrait in clothes trimmed with fur” is the most famous painting. It depicts a young man. By age no more than 30 years. With long wavy hair, a beard and mustache. The hair looked like it had been curled with curlers before posing. lips young man beautiful. The lower part of the lip is a little plump. An intelligent look, beautiful but tired eyes, white delicate hands indicate a face similar to Jesus Christ. One of the hands lies on the collar of the robe. This is the artist himself. Dressed in luxurious, rich clothes with a collar trimmed with fur.
On both sides, there are some notes on the picture. Usually, these were done on icons at that time. The similarity of the artist with the appearance of the savior is obvious. The classic thin face, beard and mustache are reminiscent of Jesus.
With his portrait the artist wanted to show a man of modern times. Compare him to God. He wanted to leave his face in his youth on the canvas. Death should not touch him, he wanted to make a self-portrait for centuries. And he did it great. The paint should not fade over the years. Such paintings were very characteristic of the era of that time. The artist thus left an unimaginable mark on his appearance for all generations. He achieved what he wanted and what he talked about to his contemporaries. Proclaimed the ideal of man.
The first third of the 16th century is a period of prosperity portrait painting in Germany. The founder of the Renaissance portrait in its “humanistic” iconography is undoubtedly Albrecht Durer (1471-1528).
Self-portrait from 1500 is one of the most significant works Albrecht Durer, marking his full creative maturity. All elements of naive narrative disappear from this portrait; it does not contain any attributes, details of the situation, nothing secondary that distracts the viewer’s attention from the image of a person. The image is based on the desire for generalization of the image, orderliness, external and internal balance.
However, Dürer’s greatest creative honesty and his never-failing sincerity force him to introduce a tinge of concern and anxiety into this image. A slight fold between the eyebrows, concentration and emphasized seriousness of expression give the face a touch of subtle sadness. The full dynamics of the fractionally curly strands of hair framing the face are restless; thin expressive fingers seem to move nervously, fingering the fur of the collar.
Dürer attached special significance to this portrait. He not only marked it with his monogram, but provided it with a Latin inscription: “I, Albrecht Dürer, a Nuremberger, painted myself in this way with eternal colors...” The letters are written in gold paint, they echo the golden flashes in the hair and emphasize the solemnity of the portrait.
Look at this portrait. Do you see Christ? But no. This is a self-portrait of the German artist Albrecht Durer from 1500. It would seem that what an unheard of audacity for the beginning of the 16th century, when people in portraits were depicted in half-profile or in profile. What does Dürer want to tell us with this?
Durer is one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, the German Leonardo da Vinci. He is one of the jeweler's 18 (!) children. Already at the age of 13, his father trusted him to draw sketches for future jewelry. Dürer is not only a versatile painter: he painted in oils, drew engravings, and made stained glass. He left many works on mathematics and astrology. And here is a self-portrait in the image of Christ.
Dürer was a devout Christian. This self-portrait is his crowning achievement philosophical reflections about the place of man in this world. He puts himself on a par with God, because he, Dürer, is also a creator. And it is the duty of every Christian to become like Jesus Christ.
You can see this self-portrait in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
Qty 406 | JPG format | Resolution ~800x1000 | Size 82 MB
Albrecht Durer(German) Albrecht Durer, May 21, 1471, Nuremberg - April 6, 1528, Nuremberg) - German painter and graphic artist, one of the greatest masters of Western European art of the Renaissance.
Dürer was born on May 21, 1471 in Nuremberg, in the family of a jeweler who came to this German city from Hungary in the middle of the 15th century. This family had 8 children, of whom the future great artist was the third child and second son. His father, Alberecht Durer Sr., was a goldsmith; he literally translated his Hungarian surname Aitoshi into German as Thurer, later it began to be written as Durer. At first, the father tried to get his son interested in jewelry, but he discovered his son’s talent as an artist.
At the age of 15, Albrecht was sent to study in the studio of the leading Nuremberg artist of the time, Michael Wolgemut. There Dürer mastered not only painting, but also engraving on wood and copper. His studies in 1490 traditionally ended with a journey - over four years the young man traveled to a number of cities in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, continuing to improve in fine arts and materials processing.
Emperor Maximillian I, 1519 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
In 1494 Dürer returned to Nuremberg and soon after got married. Then, in the same year, he took a trip to Italy, where he became acquainted with the works of Mantegna, Polaiolo, Lorenzo di Credi and other masters. In 1495, Dürer returned to his hometown again and over the next ten years created a significant part of his engravings, which have now become famous.
Paumgartner Altar. Left part, 1500-1504
Paumgartner Altar. Right part, 1500-1504
In 1505 Dürer again travels to Italy. In 1520, the artist traveled to the Netherlands, where he fell victim to an unknown illness, which then tormented him for the rest of his life. IN last years Albrecht Dürer's life paid a lot of attention to improving defensive fortifications, which was caused by the development firearms. In his work “Guide to the Fortification of Cities, Castles and Gorges,” published in 1527, Dürer describes, in particular, a fundamentally new type of fortification, which he called basteia.
Albrecht Dürer died on April 6, 1528 in his homeland in Nuremberg.
Durer's magic square
Dürer composed the first so-called magic square in Europe, depicted in his engraving “Melancholy”. Dürer's merit lies in the fact that he was able to fit the numbers from 1 to 16 into a drawn square in such a way that the sum 34 was obtained not only by adding the numbers vertically, horizontally and diagonally, but also in all four quarters, in the central quadrangle, and even when adding four corner cells. Dürer also managed to include in the table the year of creation of the engraving “Melancholy” (1514).
Melancholy, 1514
Melancholy. Magic Square (Fragment), 1514
Self-portraits of Dürer
In Dürer's work, a majestic and courageous, truly humanistic image of a man of a difficult era was created. "Self-Portrait" (1500. Alte Pinakothek. Munich) occupies special place not only in German, but throughout European art, reflecting the depth and contradictory nature of the creative consciousness that stood on the verge of two eras.
Durer's self-portrait mature years, 1500
In this self-portrait, the artist tried to connect the old system of proportions with the new Renaissance teaching on proportions human body. Striving to overcome the conventions of old art, Dürer was the first of the German artists to master advanced artistic achievements Renaissance Italy. Like Leonardo, he embodied the typical Renaissance type of artist-scientist, combining rational, scientific knowledge of the real world with its deep philosophical understanding and the transformative, dynamic, passionate imagination of the artist.
Self-portrait (silver pencil drawing, 1484), Albertina, Vienna
Self-portrait, 1493, Louvre, Paris
Self-portrait, 1498, Prado, Madrid
Engravings
Dürer was the first German artist, who began to work simultaneously in both types of engraving - on wood and on copper. He achieved extraordinary expressiveness in wood engraving, reforming the traditional manner of work and using working techniques that had developed in metal engraving. At the end of the 90s. Dürer created a number of excellent woodcuts, including one of his masterpieces - a series of woodcuts "Apocalypse" (1498), which are a successful combination of late Gothic artistic language and the stylistics of the Italian Renaissance.
"Apocalypse" series, 1498
"Apocalypse" series, 1498
In 1513-1514. Dürer created three graphic sheets that went down in the history of art under the name “Mastery Engravings”: “Knight, Death and the Devil”, “Saint Jerome in the Cell” and “Melancholy”. The engraving “Adam and Eve” (1504) is considered a masterpiece of engraving on metal by Durer.
The titan of the Western European Renaissance, the genius of the Renaissance, Albrecht Durer was one of brightest stars on the horizon of German painting. The greatest artist of the turn of the 15th-16th centuries became famous for his wood and copper engravings; landscapes made in watercolor and gouache, realistic living portraits. He became the first art theorist in history. Being a versatile person, Albrecht Dürer created not just outstanding works, but intellectual masterpieces. Among them is the engraving “Melancholy” with its magic square.
The brilliant artist became famous for his self-portraits, which contained both skill and the unique idea of the author. During his life, Albrecht Dürer created at least 50 such works, but only a few have survived to this day. What is remarkable about Durer's self-portraits? Why do they still make enthusiastic admirers of his work tremble?
Self-portraits as a biography of Albrecht Durer
Biographers say that the master Albrecht Dürer was an extremely attractive young man, and his love for self-portraits was partly due to a vain desire to please people. However, this was not their true purpose. Dürer's self-portraits are a reflection of his inner world and views on art, the history of the evolution of intelligence and the development of artistic taste. They can be used to trace the entire life of the artist. Each stage is new job, strikingly different from the previous one. Dürer made a self-portrait a separate genre in fine arts, and his works as a whole became a living biography of the artist. They can sometimes tell more than any book.
The first self-portrait of the great artist
Albrecht Dürer's first self-portrait was created in 1484. At that time the artist was only thirteen years old, but he already knew how to correctly convey proportions and had excellent command of a silver pin. For the first time, young Albrecht used it to draw the contours of his face. This tool leaves a silvery mark on primed paper. Over time, it acquires a brown tint. It is almost impossible to erase it from the sheet without damaging the soil. Thirteen-year-old Albrecht, however, painted a portrait of them, the creation of which would have caused difficulties even for a seasoned artist of that time.
In the drawing, young Durer looks thoughtful and at the same time strict. His gaze is filled with sadness and determination. The hand gesture speaks of an irreconcilable desire to achieve one’s goal - to become a great master of one’s craft. One day Albrecht's father saw his son's work. Dürer's first self-portrait amazed the talented jeweler. The father always wanted his son to follow in his footsteps, but appreciating Albrecht’s work, he sent him to study in the studio of the artist Michael Wolgemut. There, young Dürer learned the basics of painting and engraving.
Early pen self-portrait
Upon completion of training, each artist, according to the tradition of that time, went on a journey. While traveling, he had to gain experience from masters from distant lands. Albrecht Durer also followed this path. The self-portrait he painted during his trip to Europe was executed in a completely different manner. He shows skill young artist reflect on paper the inner state of a person’s soul. This time Durer used a pen, and his mood was different. In the drawing “Self-Portrait with a Bandage,” Albrecht’s face is full of torment and undisguised pain. It is covered with wrinkles, which make the image more gloomy. The cause of the torment is not known for certain, but there is no doubt that it took place.
Self-portrait, 1493
Towards the end of Albrecht's wanderings, news of his imminent marriage overtook him. Then, in the 15th century, parents themselves chose a couple for their children. Albrecht's father found a bride from a noble Nuremberg family. The young artist did not object to marrying Agnes Frey. There is a point of view that it was on the occasion of such an event that Durer wrote “Self-Portrait with a Thistle”. In those days, it was considered the norm that future spouses met directly at the wedding, so the young artist decided to give his future wife a special gift.
In the portrait, Albrecht is 22 years old. The young man looked into the distance. He is focused and thoughtful. Albrecht’s eyes are a little squinty due to the fact that he worked on the portrait while looking at himself in the mirror. The artist holds a thistle in his hands. It became the subject of controversy between fans of Durer's work.
Controversy surrounding Self-Portrait with a Thistle
Equivalent to the word "thistle" in German is männertreu, which literally translates as “male fidelity.” This clearly indicates that the self-portrait was intended for Agnes Frey. However, opponents of this point of view argue that the thistle is a symbol of the passion of Christ, and the thorns of the plant represent the torment of Jesus. In addition, Dürer wrote on the self-portrait: “My affairs are controlled by the Almighty.” And this also clearly indicates that this painting is an expression of the artist’s submission and devotion to God, and not a gift to his future wife. However, only Dürer himself knew the truth.
Italian work, 1498
The next work of the master Albrecht in the genre of self-portrait was completed in Italy. The artist always wanted to go to this country and get acquainted with the unique tradition of Italian painting. The young wife and her family did not support the idea of travel, but the plague epidemic that swept through Nuremberg made the desired trip possible. Dürer was struck by the bright riot of colors of the Italian landscapes. He depicted nature with incredible clarity for that time. Dürer became the first landscape painter in the history of art. His ideal was now a correct image, corresponding to nature and geometry. The creative atmosphere of Italy helped him accept himself as an innovative artist. And this is fully reflected in his Italian self-portrait.
It depicts a self-confident person who has realized his calling, the mission of the creator of beauty and the credo of a thinker. This is how Dürer became. The self-portrait, the description of which allows us to judge the changes in his self-awareness, is among the artist’s most famous works. Dürer is full of dignity in it. His posture is straight and his gaze expresses confidence. Albrecht is richly dressed. His carefully curled hair falls to his shoulders. And in the background of the self-portrait you can see the Italian landscape - the artist’s pure inspiration.
Four Temperaments
Dürer's next work fully reflects his nature as a thinker, as well as his desire for self-knowledge. The self-portrait is dedicated to the Greek doctrine of four temperaments. According to him, people are divided into melancholics and phlegmatics. In the engraving "Men's Bath" the great artist embodied each type of temperament in individual. Dürer considered himself melancholic. An unknown astrologer once told him about this. It can be assumed that it is in this role that he is depicted in the engraving. The artist depicted himself as a flutist entertaining his friends.
"Self-portrait as Christ", 1500
Durer returned from Italy no longer a timid student, but a master of his craft. At home, Albrecht received many orders that brought him fame. His work was already known outside his native Nuremberg, and the artist himself put his business on a commercial basis. At the same time, a new century was approaching, the onset of which was to be marked by the end of the world. The intense period of eschatological anticipation had a significant influence on the master Albrecht. And in 1500 the most famous work, which Dürer created, “Self-portrait in the image of Christ.”
He photographed himself from the front, which was unthinkable courage in the 16th century. All the portraits of that time were distinguished by one common feature: ordinary people They were always depicted half-turned, and only Jesus was an exception. Dürer became the first artist to violate this unspoken ban. the perfect wavy hair really makes him look like Christ. Even the hand, depicted at the bottom of the canvas, is folded in a gesture typical of the holy father. The colors in the picture are subdued. Against the background of black, red, white and brown shades, the artist’s face stands out clearly. Dressed in robes trimmed with fur, master Albrecht seemed to compare himself with a creator who creates his own special, mysterious and unique world with a chisel and brush.
Religious self-portraits
Dürer's subsequent self-portraits had a pronounced religious character. The 16th century was full of upheavals associated with the awareness of the role of God in life common man. Martin Luther made a strong contribution to this issue, trying to convey the essence of Christian teaching to people. And Dürer wrote numerous religious compositions. Among them are the “Feast of the Rosary” and “Adoration of the Holy Trinity.” On them, Durer is not only a master, but also a participant in sacred actions. In this way he paid tribute to devotion to God.
The most candid self-portrait
Religious overtones are one of the most controversial and mysterious works artist - “Nude self-portrait”. Albrecht Dürer depicted himself in the image of Christ the Martyr. This is evidenced by the thin face, emaciated body, and posture reminiscent of Jesus during the scourging. Even the fold of skin depicted by the artist above the right thigh can have symbolic meaning. There was one of the wounds received by Christ.
The drawing was made with pen and brush on tinted green paper. The exact time of creation of the self-portrait is unknown, but based on the age of the artist in the painting, it can be assumed that he painted it in the first decade of the 16th century. It is reliably known that the author kept the work at home and did not present it to the general public. No artist before or after him depicted himself completely naked. The drawing, shocking in its frankness, can hardly be found in publications dedicated to art.
Albrecht Durer's last self-portraits
Dürer's subsequent self-portraits predicted his imminent death. In the Netherlands, he was struck by a strange illness, which no one had any idea about at that time. Now historians can only assume that it was malaria. The artist had problems with the spleen, which he clearly indicated in the self-portrait “Dürer - Sick” with a yellow spot. He sent this drawing to his doctor and wrote him a short message. It said that the place where the yellow spot is depicted causes pain. A reflection of the artist’s physical condition and a continuation religious theme became “Self-portrait in the image of the suffering Christ.” It depicts Dürer, tormented by an unknown illness and spiritual discord, the cause of which was, perhaps, the Reformation and related events.
He soon died, leaving to his descendants the greatest legacy of his time. Dürer's self-portraits, stored in the most famous galleries world, such as the Louvre in Paris and the Prado in Madrid, still amaze with their inner strength and almost mystical beauty.
Albrecht Dürer was the first in the history of German (and, by and large, all European) painting to begin painting self-portraits. Reviewed in chronological sequence, they make up unique story human knowledge of self, nature and God.
First self-portrait of 13-year-old Dürer
Albrecht Durer. Self-portrait
Albrecht Dürer Sr. (1, 2), a Hungarian immigrant, had a jewelry workshop in Nuremberg and 18 daughters and sons, four of whom survived. The third of the Dürer children, also Albrecht, like his father, spent all day in the workshop from the age of ten. In truth, at first he only watched carefully. I watched how multi-colored stones were framed, becoming part of a ring or necklace; how a twisted ornament of leaves and buds gradually, obeying the father’s chisel, entangles the neck of a silver vase, and a pot-bellied gilded chalice (a church cup for taking communion) “overgrows” with vines and grapes. By the age of thirteen, his father was already instructing Albrecht Jr. to prepare sketches for the same necklace, crown or bowl. The third son of the Durers turned out to have a steady hand, an excellent eye and a sense of proportions. His God-fearing father could thank heaven that the family business had good long-term prospects.
Albrecht Durer. Double Cup
Albrecht Durer. Imperial crown
Sketches of jewelry made by Dürer already in adulthood.
One day, taking a silver pencil familiar to a jeweler’s apprentice, which does not allow any corrections, 13-year-old Albrecht, checking the reflection in the mirror, drew a picture of himself. It turned out to be difficult - all the time looking from the reflection to the paper and back, keeping the pose and facial expression unchanged. It was even more exotic to realize that there were now three Albrechts in the studio - one in the amalgam of the mirror, the second gradually emerging on paper, and the third, concentrating all his spiritual forces, trying to make the first two coincide as much as possible. He just didn’t depict his magic pencil - he only drew a fragile brush with an outstretched finger, as if he was pointing at something invisible to us or trying to measure something.
In the upper right corner there is an inscription: “I drew myself in a mirror in 1484, when I was still a child. Albrecht Durer". In Germany at the end of the 15th century, self-portraits were not accepted. The 13-year-old Dürer could not see any examples, just as he could not imagine that one day it would be thanks to him that such a genre would establish itself in European art - the self-portrait. With the interest of a natural scientist, so characteristic of the Renaissance, Albrecht simply recorded the object that interested him - his own face - and did not try to decorate, heroize or dress himself up (as he would do as he matured).
“This touching face with childishly chubby cheeks and wide with open eyes ,” art historian Marcel Brion describes Dürer’s first self-portrait. — These bulging eyes, like the eyes of a bird of prey, can look at the sun without blinking. The drawing in this place is somewhat inept. A silver pencil, more suitable for the painstaking precision of a goldsmith's sketches, sharply outlines the curve of the eyelids and the highlights of the eyeball. The gaze is concentrated and almost hallucinatory, which may be caused by some awkwardness of the young draftsman, or perhaps by the amazing intuition that was already there then distinctive feature character of little Dürer. The face is turned three-quarters, revealing a gentle oval of full cheeks, a nose with a hump, similar to a beak. There is some kind of indecision and incompleteness in the boy’s face, but his nose and eyes testify to the exceptional individuality of the author, self-confident, the master of his soul and destiny.”
Self-portrait with a study of a hand and a pillow and a self-portrait with a bandage
Albrecht Durer. Self-portrait with study of hand and pillow (recto side of sheet)
Albrecht Durer. Six studies of pillows ( back side"Self-portrait with studies of a hand and a pillow")
Albrecht Durer. Self-portrait with bandage
1491
The following graphic self-portraits of Albrecht Dürer that have come down to us were made in 1491-1493. Their author is just over twenty. Here it is not a silver pencil that is used, but a pen and ink. And Dürer himself is no longer an apprentice jeweler, but an aspiring artist. His father very much regretted the futile efforts spent on teaching Albrecht “gold and silversmithing skills,” but, seeing the persistence with which his son strives to become an artist, he sent him to study with the painter and carver Michael Wolgemut, after which Dürer went, as it was then accepted, on a creative journey. The “years of wanderings” during which these self-portraits were executed will make him a true master.
Self-portrait with a sketch of a hand and a pillow, at first glance, seems to be something of a caricature, a friendly caricature of oneself. But most likely none secret meaning there is none and this is just a graphical exercise. Dürer is “training his hand”, training to create full-fledged three-dimensional objects using shading and analyze how the strokes are laid out, recording their deformations: on back side self-portrait depicts 6 differently crushed pillows.
Subject close attention In Dürer's self-portraits, his hands become equal to his face. Being an excellent draftsman, Dürer considered the hands to be one of the most significant and interesting objects for study and depiction. He never gave his hands in general terms; he always carefully worked out the skin texture, the smallest lines and wrinkles. A sketch for one of Dürer’s altarpieces, “Hands of a Prayer/Apostle” (1508), for example, is famous as an independent work. By the way, thin hands with long fingers tapering upward, the owner of which was Dürer himself, in his time were considered a sign of high spiritual perfection.
In these two youthful portraits, art critics read “concern, anxiety, self-doubt.” An emotional feature is already obvious in them, which will remain in all the artist’s subsequent self-portraits: in none of them did he depict himself joyful or even with a shadow of a smile. This was partly a tribute to pictorial tradition (no one laughs in medieval painting), and partly it reflected character. Having inherited from his father the inescapable family silence and gloom, Dürer always remained a complex, intensely thinking person, alien to self-satisfaction: it is not for nothing that Dürer’s famous engraving “Melancholy” is often called his spiritual self-portrait.
Self-Portrait with Holly
Albrecht Durer. Self-Portrait with Holly (Self-Portrait with Thistle)
1493, 56×44 cm
While Dürer traveled in the vicinity of the Upper Rhine and improved himself, becoming acquainted with famous artists Germany and sketching views of cities and mountains, his father in Nuremberg got him a bride. He informs his unsuspecting son, who was in Strasbourg at that moment, about the matchmaking as a fait accompli by letter. The father wrote almost nothing to Durer about the girl Agnes Frei, but he told a lot about her parents: the future father-in-law Hans Frei, a master of interior fountains, was about to be appointed to Big tip Nuremberg, and the mother-in-law is generally from the patrician (albeit impoverished) Rummel dynasty.
The elder Durer, who himself came from Hungarian grain growers, really wanted to make a good match for Albrecht and therefore demanded that his son finish all his unfinished business and return to Nuremberg, and in the meantime - is he now an artist or what? - write and send your own portrait to Agnes, so that the bride can imagine what her betrothed looks like, whom she has never seen before.
The portrait that played the role of a sort of “preview” in Dürer’s family life is considered to be “Self-Portrait with Holly” (1493). It was painted not on wood, like most portraits of that time, but on parchment (it is assumed that in this form it was easier to send the portrait), only in 1840 the image was transferred to canvas. Dürer is 22 years old here. For the first time in a self-portrait, his task is not to know himself, but to show himself to others, to “present” his appearance and personality to the world. And for Dürer this turns out to be an interesting challenge, to which he responds with special artistic passion. Dürer portrays himself with defiant, carnival-theatrical elegance: his subtle White shirt tied with pink and purple cords, the sleeves of the outer dress are decorated with slits, and the extravagant red hat looks more like a dahlia flower than a headdress.
Dürer squeezes an elegant thorn with his fingers, the nature and symbolism of which is disputed. In Russian, the name “Self-Portrait with Holly” is assigned to the painting, but the plant, which in Russian is called holly (or holly), blooms and looks somewhat different. From a botanical point of view, Dürer is holding in his hands Eryngium amethystinum - amethyst eryngium, also called “blue thistle”. According to one version, this is how the devout Durer points to his “symbol of faith” - the crown of thorns of Christ. Another version says that in Germany, in one of the dialects, the name for eryngium is Männer treu (“male fidelity”), which means that Dürer makes it clear that he is not going to contradict his father and promises Agnes to be a faithful husband. The inscription on a dark background My sach die gat / Als es oben schtat is translated as “My affairs are determined from above”(there is also a rhyming translation: “My business is going as heaven ordered”). It can also be interpreted as an expression of submission to fate and parental will. But the suit lets slip: “I will do as my father orders, but this will not stop me from being myself and moving along my chosen path.”.
Albrecht Durer. Wife Agnes
Albrecht Durer. Agnes Durer
Graphic portraits of Agnes Dürer (1495 and 1521), executed by her husband at intervals of a quarter of a century
Albrecht and Agnes will soon get married, as their parents wanted, and will live a long life together, which few would dare to call happy: the two halves of the childless Durer couple turned out to be too different in nature. “There was probably never any understanding between him and his wife, writes Galina Matvievskaya in the monograph “Albrecht Durer - Scientist”. — Practical and prudent Agnes was apparently very disappointed that the whole way of her new life was not at all similar to the one she was accustomed to at her father’s house. Striving to live an orderly burgher life, subject to simple and clear rules, she energetically supported Dürer in all economic matters and took care of the material well-being of the house, but her husband’s aspirations and ideals remained alien to her. Undoubtedly, it was not easy for her: even being nearby, Dürer lived his own life, incomprehensible to her... Over time, she became embittered, became callous and stingy, and obvious hostility crept into their relationship.”.
“Dürer the Magnificent”: self-portrait from the Prado
Albrecht Durer. Self-portrait
1498, 41×52 cm. Oil, Wood
Das malt ich nach meiner gestalt / Ich war sex und zwenzig Jor alt / Albrecht Dürer - “I wrote this from myself. I was 26 years old. Albrecht Durer". Between the two self-portraits - this and the previous one - only five years passed, and they were very important years in the biography of Dürer. During these five years, Dürer not only got married, but also became famous, not only matured, but also managed to recognize himself as a great artist, a universal personality, for whom the boundaries became too tight. hometown, since now Dürer needs the whole world. In this self-portrait from the Prado, in Dürer's very gaze, in his calm and confident pose and in the way his hands rest on the parapet, there is a special, conscious dignity.
At the time of writing the self-portrait, Dürer had recently returned from his second trip to Italy. In northern Europe, he is widely known as a magnificent engraver, whose “Apocalypse” cycle, printed in the printing house of his godfather Anton Koberger, sold in huge quantities. In Italy, this cradle of art, Dürer is maliciously copied, and he sues the manufacturers of counterfeits, defending his good name, and also proves to doubting Italians that he is as magnificent in painting as in engraving, having painted the painting “Feast of the Rosary” (his we tell the story in detail here). The new self-portrait is a kind of declaration that Dürer is no longer a craftsman (and in his native Nuremberg, artists are still considered representatives of the craft class) - he is an artist, and therefore God’s chosen one.
This is the self-awareness not of a medieval master, but of a Renaissance artist. Dürer, not without defiance, depicts himself in Italian attire, elegant and expensive: his gathered shirt made of white silk is decorated with golden embroidery at the collar, wide black stripes on his cap with tassels rhyme with the black contrasting trim of his clothes, a brown cape made of heavy expensive fabric is held at the level of the collarbones with a braided cord threaded through the eyelets. Dürer has acquired a dandy beard, which still seems to smell of Venetian perfume, and his golden-red hair is carefully curled, which causes ridicule among his pragmatic compatriots. In Nuremberg, his wife or mother hid his outfits in a chest: as a representative of the craft class, Dürer, as biographers write, had no right to allow himself such provocative luxury. And with this self-portrait he polemically declares: an artist is not a craftsman, his position in the social hierarchy is much higher. His beautiful, finely crafted kid gloves scream the same thing. “White gloves, also brought from Italy,” writes Dürer's biographer Stanislav Zarnitsky, — hide the employee’s honest hands, covered with abrasions, cuts, stains of ingrained paint.”). His gloves are a symbol of his new status. An expensive suit in Venetian fashion and a mountain landscape outside the window (a tribute to his mentor Giovanni Bellini) all indicate that Dürer no longer agrees with considering himself a provincial artisan, limited by the conventions of time and space.
Self-portrait in clothes trimmed with fur (“Self-portrait at the age of 28”,
"Self-portrait in a fur coat"
Albrecht Durer. Self-portrait
1500, 67×49 cm. Oil, Wood
This same tendency to view the artist not as a simple artisan, but as a universal personality, Dürer takes to its logical extreme in the painting that would later become the most famous of his self-portraits. This is how his appearance is described in the biographical novel “Dürer” by Stanislav Zarnitsky:
“Old Dürer, once entering his son’s workshop, saw a painting he had just completed. Christ - so it seemed to the goldsmith, whose eyesight had completely deteriorated. But, looking more closely, he saw in front of him not Jesus, but his Albrecht. In the portrait his son was dressed in rich fur coat. A hand with pale fingers, helpless in their thinness, was chillingly pulling at its sides. From the gloomy background, as if from nothingness, protruded not just a face - the face of a saint. An unearthly grief froze in his eyes. In small letters there is an inscription: “This is how I, Albrecht Durer from Nuremberg, painted myself at the age of 28 in eternal colors.”
For the first time, Dürer depicts himself not in a three-quarter spread, but strictly frontally - this was not the customary way to paint secular portraits, only saints. With a transparent “look into eternity”, the beauty of his entire appearance and a gesture of his hand, similar to a gesture of blessing, he consciously likens himself to Christ. Was it particularly daring on the part of the artist to paint himself in the image of the Savior? Dürer was known as a zealous Christian and was sure that becoming like Christ for a believer was not only a life task, but also a duty. “Because of the Christian faith we must be exposed to insults and dangers.”- said Dürer.
Some researchers point out that the painting was painted in 1500, when humanity once again expected the end of the world, therefore, this self-portrait is a kind of spiritual testament of Durer.
Self-portrait in dead image Christ?
Albrecht Durer. Dead Christ wearing a crown of thorns
1503
Dead Christ in a Crown of ThornsDurer's drawing with the thrown back head of the dead Jesus is considered by some to be a self-portrait. They say that at the “age of Christ” or so Dürer became very ill and was close to death. For several days he was shaken by a fever, Dürer lay exhausted, with dry lips and sunken eyes. At that moment everyone thought that the devout artist would send for a priest. But he demanded to bring a small mirror, placed it on his chest and, barely finding the strength to raise his head, peered at his reflection for a long time. This frightened Dürer’s relatives: perhaps they thought that under the influence of illness he had gone mad, for no one had ever thought of admiring himself in the mirror on his deathbed. When Dürer recovered, he made this drawing based on what he saw. In the lower third of the sheet we see a large monogram of the artist - the letters A and D one above the other and the year - 1503 (Dürer was born in 1471).
Self-portraits of Albrecht Durer, which are known only in words
Two interesting references to lost self-portraits of Dürer have reached us. Both belong to the artist's contemporaries. The first is the Italian Giorgio Vasari, the author of the famous “Biographies,” and the second is the German, well-known lawyer in Nuremberg Christoph Scheirl, who published the brochure “Little Book in Praise of Germany” in 1508.
Both speak of Durer’s virtuosity using living examples, and therefore their descriptions deserve attention, although we do not know exactly which self-portraits we are talking about.
Vasari tells how Dürer, whom he calls “an amazing German painter and copper engraver who produced the most beautiful prints", sent to his younger colleague Rafael “the head self-portrait, made by him in gouache on the thinnest fabric so that it could be viewed equally from both sides, and the highlights were without white and transparent, and the other light areas of the image were untouched with the expectation of translucent fabric, being only barely tinted and touched by color watercolor. This thing seemed amazing to Raphael, and therefore he sent him many sheets with his own drawings, which Albrecht especially treasured.”.
The incident described by Scheirl seems like a naive curiosity and tells the story of Dürer and his dog:
“...Once, when he painted his own portrait with the help of a mirror and placed the still fresh picture in the sun, his dog, just running past, licked it, believing that it had run into its master (for only dogs, according to the same Pliny , know their names and recognize their master, even if he appears completely unexpectedly). And I can testify that the traces of this are still visible to this day. How often, moreover, did the maids try to erase the cobwebs he had carefully written!
Cameo self-portraits (Dürer in multi-figure paintings as himself)
By performing solo self-portraits, Dürer was an innovator. But sometimes he acted more traditionally, as many of his predecessors and contemporaries did - he inscribed his own image into multi-figure compositions. Placing oneself on the altar door or inside a dense crowd of “praying and waiting” was a common practice for artists of Dürer’s time.
Albrecht Durer. Feast of the Rosary (Feast of Rose Wreaths)
1506, 162×194.5 cm. Oil, Wood
In the right corner altar painting“Feast of the Rosary,” commissioned by the German community in Venice, the artist depicts himself in magnificent attire. In his hands he holds a scroll where it is written that Albrecht Dürer completed the painting in five months, although in fact the work on it lasted at least eight: it was important for Dürer to prove to the doubting Italians that he was as good in painting as in engraving.
Albrecht Durer. Altar of Job (Altar of Yabach). Reconstruction
1504
The Jabach Altar (sometimes called the "Job Altar") was probably commissioned by Dürer by the Elector of Saxony, Frederick III, for the castle in Wittenberg to commemorate the end of the plague epidemic of 1503. Later, the altar was acquired by the Cologne Jabach family; until the 18th century it was in Cologne, then it was divided, and its central part was lost. This is what the disparate outer doors looked like now: on the left is the long-suffering Job and his wife, and on the right are the musicians who came to console Job. Dürer portrayed himself as a drummer. In reality, the artist was interested in music, tried to play the lute, but there is something even more undoubtedly Durerian in this image - the inherent extravagance in his choice of clothing. Dürer the drummer depicts himself in a black turban and an unusual cut short orange cape.
Supposed self-portraits of Dürer can be found in his works The Torment of Ten Thousand Christians, The Heller Altarpiece and The Adoration of the Trinity.
Albrecht Durer. Martyrdom of ten thousand Christians
1508, 99×87 cm
Albrecht Durer. Heller Altar (Altar of the Assumption of Mary). Reconstruction
1500s, 190×260 cm. Oil, Tempera, Wood
Albrecht Durer. Adoration of the Holy Trinity (Landauer Altar)
1511, 135×123 cm
And here are fragments of the above works with self-portraits of Durer:
Durer nude
Albrecht Durer. Nude self-portrait
1509, 29×15 cm. Ink, Paper
The 16th-century German philologist and historian Joachim Camerarius the Elder wrote an essay on the artist’s life and work for the publication of Durer’s book on proportions. Camerari described Dürer’s appearance in it as follows: “Nature endowed him with a body outstanding for its slimness and posture and completely consistent with his noble spirit... He had an expressive face, sparkling eyes, a noble nose,... a rather long neck, a very broad chest, a toned stomach, muscular thighs, strong and slender legs . But you'd say you've never seen anything more graceful than his fingers. His speech was so sweet and witty that nothing upset his listeners more than its ending.”.
The frankness with which Dürer depicts not someone else’s, but his own nudity, right up to the twentieth century and similar experiments of Lucian Freud, remained something unprecedented and so shocking that in many publications this generational self-portrait of Dürer was bashfully cut off at waist level.
However, it must be understood that Dürer’s strategy was not to shock anyone. Rather, he was driven by the same Renaissance interest of a natural scientist, who at the age of 13 made the future artist become interested in his own face and immediately check whether he could “double nature” by capturing what he saw in a drawing. Moreover, in Germany during Dürer’s time, depicting a naked body from life presented a serious problem: unlike Italy, where finding models of both sexes was not difficult and did not cost too much, it was not customary for the Germans to pose nude for artists. And Dürer himself complained a lot about the fact that he was forced to learn to draw the human body from the works of Italians (Andrea Mantegna and others), and Vasari, in his biography of Marcantonio, even allowed such a condescendingly caustic passage regarding Dürer’s ability to depict the naked body:
“... I am ready to believe that Albrecht, perhaps, could not have done better, since, having no other opportunity, he was forced, when depicting a naked body, to copy his own students, who probably, like most Germans, had ugly bodies, although the people of these countries seem very beautiful when dressed.”.
Even if we indignantly reject Vasari’s attack on the ugliness of German figures, it is natural to assume that, being by nature the owner of excellent proportions, Dürer actively used his own body for his artistic and anthropometric studies. Over time, issues of the structure of the human body and the relationship of its parts became one of the main issues in Dürer’s work and worldview.
Albrecht Durer. Men's bath
In the engraving “Men's Bath”, Durer finds a “legal” and successful reason for depicting nudity, in no way offending public morality and preventing reproaches from conservatives or bigots. Baths are a special pride of German cities. They, like the Roman baths, serve as a place for friendly meetings and meaningful conversations. But look, no one is dressed in the bathhouse! In the foreground of the engraving, Dürer depicts his mentor Michael Wolgemuth and his closest friend Willibald Pirkheimer. There is also a self-portrait of Durer here: his muscular body goes to the flutist from the background.
Self-portraits of Dürer as the “man of sorrows”
Albrecht Durer. Man of Sorrows (Self-Portrait)
1522, 40.8×29 cm. Pencil, Paper
“I myself found a gray hair, it grew on me because of poverty and because I suffer so much. I think I was born to get into trouble.". The above words are a quote from Dürer’s letter to a friend and, perhaps, the most intimate expression of what he thinks about his own life.
This late self-portrait paradoxically connects two attitudes of earlier self-portraits: to use one's naked body as a subject and to identify oneself in a certain way with Christ. Drawing his already middle-aged body and his face, touched by aging, recording how the muscles and skin gradually become flabby, forming folds of skin where they were not there yesterday, recording the changes taking place with sober objectivity, Dürer simultaneously designs this self-portrait in accordance with the iconographic type “ a man of sorrows." This definition, coming from the Old Testament “Book of Isaiah,” denoted the tormented Christ - in a crown of thorns, half naked, beaten, spat on, with a bloody wound under the ribs (1, 2).
Albrecht Durer. Self-portrait
1521
And this self-portrait is not a painting or an engraving, but a visualization of the diagnosis from a letter written by Dürer to the doctor from whom he wanted to get a consultation. At the top there is an explanation: “Where the yellow spot is and where my finger points, that’s where it hurts.”
Poverty, illness, litigation with clients and the arrest of his beloved students accused of godlessness, the refusal of the Nuremberg authorities to pay the artist the annual allowance assigned by the late Emperor Maximilian, lack of understanding in the family - Dürer’s last years were not easy and filled with sadness. Having undertaken a long journey to see a beached whale, 50-year-old Dürer will contract malaria, from the consequences of which he will not be able to recover until he dies. A serious illness (possibly a tumor of the pancreas) led to the fact that, according to Willibald Pirkheimer, Dürer dried up “like a bunch of straw.” And when he is buried (without special honors - the Nuremberg artisan had no right to them), the unreasonable admirers of the genius, who have come to their senses, will insist on exhumation in order to remove from him death mask. And his famous wavy locks will be cut off and taken apart as a keepsake. As if his memory needed these supports from his mortal flesh, while Dürer left immortal evidence of himself - engravings, paintings, books, and finally, self-portraits.
Albrecht Durer(German Albrecht Dürer, May 21, 1471, Nuremberg - April 6, 1528, Nuremberg) - German painter and graphic artist, one of the greatest masters of the Western European Renaissance. Recognized as the largest European master of woodblock printing, who raised it to the level of real art. The first art theorist among Northern European artists, the author of a practical guide to fine and decorative arts in German, who promoted the need for the diversified development of artists. Founder of comparative anthropometry. The first European artist to write an autobiography. The emergence of the Northern European self-portrait as an independent genre is associated with the name of Dürer. One of the best portrait painters of his time, he highly valued painting because it made it possible to preserve the image of a particular person for future generations.
Dürer's creative path coincided with the culmination German Renaissance, the complex, largely disharmonious nature of which left its mark on all of his art. It accumulates the wealth and originality of German artistic traditions, constantly manifested in the appearance of Dürer’s characters, far from the classical ideal of beauty, in the preference for sharp-character, in attention to individual details. At the same time, contact with Italian art, the secret of harmony and perfection of which he tried to comprehend. He is the only master Northern Renaissance, who, in terms of the focus and versatility of his interests, the desire to master the laws of art, the development of perfect proportions of the human figure and the rules of perspective construction, can be compared with the greatest masters of the Italian Renaissance.
Albrecht Durer “Self-Portrait”, Oil on wood, 67 × 49 cm, 1500 g.
This self-portrait made an unforgettable impression on those who saw it. Already at the initial stage of work on the portrait, Albrecht committed, from the point of view of the medieval canons of art, a genuine blasphemy: he began to paint himself from the front - from a perspective unthinkable for depicting mere mortals, even a great painter. Only God was allowed to be written this way. But Dürer went further: he gave his appearance the features of Jesus Christ. Accident? It is unlikely, for it is known that in subsequent works the artist repeatedly used himself as a model for the image of Christ.
The rumor about the artist's new creation, although it was never exhibited publicly and always remained the master's property, spread throughout the city and soon spread beyond its borders. There was every reason to blame Dürer for his exorbitant pride, especially in this terrible time (1500 - anticipation of the end of the world). But even his pride was forgiven. The picture revealed not only new stage in German portraiture. She seemed to be saying that man created God in his own image.