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Nuremberg, 1507-1520
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Portrait of Michael Wolgemut
1516
Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg
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Portrait of Michael Wolgemut
This painting was originally part of the Praun collection in
Nuremberg. In 1809, the antique collector Frauenholz sold it for 300
ducats to the heir-apparent prince of Bavaria. It came to the
Germanisches Nationalmuseum between 1909 and 1928 (Anzelewsky,
1991). Durer was not painting on commission, but independently chose
to depict his master Michael Wolgemut (1434-November 30, 1519, whose
workshop he had apprenticed in from 1486. This fact can explain the
unusual, impressive adherence to realism that he kept in
reproducing, without embellishment, his features, against an intense
green background. It is a realism that Durer had previously
experimented with two years earlier, in a charcoal-drawing portrait
of his mother, which is in Berlin. In Gothic letters, the
inscription reads: Daz hat albrecht durer abconterfet noch siene
Lermeister Michell Wolgemut jn jor 1516. Durer later added (Rupprich,
1956-69): vnd er was 82 vnd hat gelet pis das man felet 1519 Jor: do
ist er ferschiden an sant Endres dag frv, ee dy sun awff gyng.
("This is the portrait that Albrecht Durer made of his master
Michell Wolgemut." The addition: "He was 82 years old and lived
until the year 1519; he passed away the day of Saint Andrew, in the
morning, before the sun came out.") Another portrait on parchment,
monogrammed and dated 1516—which until 1992 (sold at Sotheby's
auction, in London, 9 December) was found in the Georg Schafer
collection in Schweinfurt— Winkler judges as the first version of
the small work (Anzelewsky, 1991).
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Portrait of the Artist's Mother
1514
Charcoal drawing on paper
Staatliche Museen, Berlin
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The Apostle Philip
It is said that Emperor Ferdinand II (1637-57)
gave this painting, along with the following one, to the
grand duke of Tuscany, Ferdinand II (1610-70), on the occasion of
the latter's visit to Vienna. On both works, an excellent, fine
painting of the very delicate canvas bears witness to Diurer's
mastery, whether of the detailed depiction of the faces or, above
all, of the imposing beards of the two figures.
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The Apostle Philip
1516
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
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Saint James the Great, the Apostle
See: Saint Philip, the Apostle. The notion that Durer had
intended to paint a complete series of all the apostles is well
supported.
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The Apostle James the Elder
1516
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence |
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Portrait of a Cleric
In 1 778, this painting was, along with the Wolgemut portrait, the Saint Onofrius, and the Death of Crescentia
Pirckheimer, in the Paul von Praun collection. He must
have acquired it from the goldsmith Wenzil Jamnitzer of Nuremberg,
who, in turn, would have received it from Endres, Albrecht Durer's
brother. In 1801, the painting went to Count Rudolf Czernin, from
whom Samuel H. Kress acquired it, and he subsequently donated it to
the National Gallery (Anzelewsky, 1991). The painting was considered
in Nuremberg (1778) to be of Johann Dorsch, an Augustinian friar who
had converted quite early on to Lutheranism. This identification,
however, was challenged by various critics, since Dorsch became the
parish priest of Saint John's in Nuremberg in 1528. Some have
hypothesized that it was a portrait by Huldrych Zwingli, the great
Swiss reformer; but only side profile portraits of him exist, which,
according to Anzelewsky, do not give rise to a fair comparison or to
a reliable attribution. Anzelewsky would opt for the former
identification, also because, according to more recent studies, the
meeting between Zwingli and Diirer could not have occurred before
1519, on the occasion of a mission in Zurich in which he
participated with his friend Pirckheimer and Martin Tucher (Rupprich,
1956-69). As in the Portrait of Wolgemut, Durer succeeds
in effectively expressing the vigorous personality of the subject,
modeling the head with a slight rotation leftward, toward the light,
and framing it with a severe black attire against a green
background. The fine brush strokes, especially for the hair and
eyelashes, are well preserved.
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Portrait of a Cleric
1516
National Gallery of Art, Washington
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Lucrezia
This panel is mentioned in the inventory, dated 1598, of the
Kunstkammer of Munich. The cloth around the hips was presumably
expanded upward around 1600. Fedja Anzelewsky's opinion (1991) that
the Lucrezia, all things considered, was "Durer's most unpopular
work," is undoubtedly widely shared. Because of many discrepancies
and discordances in the proportions and in the expression of the
figure, Anzelewsky defines it as "a parody rather than an exaltation
of the classical feminine figure." The theme takes its origin from a
Roman story that narrates how Lucrezia, the virtuous wife of Lucius
Tarquinius Collatinus, is dishonored by Sextus, son of Tarquinius
the Superb. She then takes her own life out of shame. The Lucrezia
of Durer's painting does not pierce her heart. The artist thus
follows one tradition, spread by Italian painters like Francesco
Francia and adopted before him by Lucas Cranach as well. But all
these represented the woman in a three-quarter profile, and they
never set her in her own bedroom. The blood spouting from the wound
is rather slight and does not stain the bridal bed, which remains
neat and clean and undisturbed. This certainly indicates that the
insult suffered is only exterior and has not contaminated the
intimate purity of the chaste matron. There is one markedly
commonplace and bourgeois detail in the scene, which must create the
sense of a heroic-pathetic atmosphere: the presence of a night vase
under the bed. The brush strokes are extraordinarily fine; the
colors used for the drapes and the fabrics are predominantly various
shades of red, blue, and green. Durer made use of drawings that go
back to 1508 for this painting.
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The Suicide of Lucrezia
1518
Alte Pinakothek, Munich
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The Virgin Mary in Prayer
Wilhem von Bode acquired the panel in Venice in 1894 in an auction
of the Morosini-Gatterburg collection, and then donated it to the
Berlin art gallery. The Virgin Mary in Prayer was part of a diptych
(Winkler, 1928) whose matching pair was probably a representation of
an "Ecce Homo" (Anzelewsky, 1991).
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The Virgin Mary in Prayer
1518
Staatliche Museen, Berlin
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Jakob Fugger the Wealthy
The presence of this portrait is documerited, in the eighteenth
century, in the gallery of the elector of Bavaria. Because of
successive restorations, the top layer of color is missing.
During the Diet of Augsburg, in 1518, Durer portrayed Jakob Fugger
in a charcoal drawing (W 571). The final painting, on canvas,
differs from the drawing in the wealthier clothing of the subject,
and, above all, in the framing: a half-bust in the drawing, a
half-length in the painting.
Jakob Fugger of Augsburg (1459-1525), the wealthiest merchant of his
day, learned the art of commerce in Venice. He possessed a network
of business agencies throughout Europe. His was the most important
banking institution in Europe, and he had the monopoly of silver and
copper mines. He obtained the right to mint the coins of the Vatican
from Julius 11, Leo X, and Adrian VI, and he had an important role
in the system of tax collection and payment of indulgences from the
Vatican coffers. He heavily financed the political and military
undertakings of Maximilian I and Charles V: just for the election of
the latter, he contributed 300,000 florins. In 1508, Maximilian I
conferred him a noble title, and Leo X nominated him Count Palatine
of the Lateran. In 1519, he established in Augsburg the "Fuggerei,"
a small city within the city, consisting of 106 small houses
intended for the most needy citizens.
The outer edges of his garments and fur coat, crossing and
overlapping, create an ascendant pyramid effect, which solidly sets
off the portrait. At the same time, his garments sharply contrast
with his face, hard and severe, atop a bull neck. Only the clear
complexion of the flesh, painted with extremely fine brush strokes,
which is detached from a delicate blue background, attenuates his
dynamism and severity. The position of the head denotes firmness and
self-assurance, and the eyes look away, possibly to indicate a
farsightedness. The wide forehead, lined with a simply-fashioned
gold beret, and the thin, pressed lips, give him the look of a man
who—at least according to Diir-er's interpretation—has a strong
personality and no need of decoration to assert himself.
This impressive characterization, if somewhat idealized, along with
the one of Durer's father of 1497, is in my opinion one
of the most significant of portraiture in that era in Europe.
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Jakob Fugger, the Wealthy
1518-20
Staatsgalerie, Augsburg |
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St
Anne with the Virgin and Child
1519
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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Saint Anne, Virgin and Christ Child (Anna Seldbritt)
This is a devotional image that Leonhard Tucher commissioned from
Durer. In 1628, it was offered by Gabriel III Tucher to Maximilian
of Bavaria, who did not consider it to be an original. After having
passed from collection to collection, it was acquired in 1910 by
Benjamin Altmann, who donated it in 1913 to the museum in New York.
After having formerly been considered at times a copy, today the
panel is generally held to be an original work of Durer. The theme
treated is often found in the altarpieces in Nuremberg, which are
obviously of different scales and are solemn and monumental. Here
the close and more familiar rapport the patron had with the
requested painting led Durer to prefer a more intimate
interpretation. The outline of Saint Anne's head is even based on a
portrait drawing of his wife, Agnes, carried out the same year (W
574). The Virgin's head seems an actual portrait of a girl, so
little does she resemble the contemporary iconography of the
Madonna. Saint Anne, who, as in all the depictions of this sort,
rests her hand on the shoulder of her daughter, has an almost
reassuring, consoling character here. Very little space is left for
the child because of the small dimensions of the painting.
Saint Anne's knowing gaze looks into the distance; the young
Virgin's is lowered and smiling in the act of adoration of her
child: both imbue the small work with a melancholic tone. This
melancholy is explained by the presence of the white cloth placed
under the sleeping child's lovely head. It is a sad allusion to the
Passion
and death that await him.
This is obviously a work intended for meditation.
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Emperor Maximilian I
1519
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
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Emperor Maximilian I
1519
Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg |
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Portrait of Maximilian I
For some time, this painting has belonged to the emperors of
Austria; from the end of the 1800s, it has been in the museum in
Vienna. In 1518, Durer went to the Diet of Augsburg following a
delegation of dignitaries from Nuremberg. On that occasion, he did
the Portrait of Jakob Fugger and also one in a half-bust
of the emperor, then fifty-nine. It is a pencil drawing (W 567)
carried out on 28 June (as indicated by the inscription on the same
paper). Shortly thereafter, probably still during his sojourn in
Augsburg (Anzelewsky, 1991), he did a second portrait, still in a
half-bust, but this time painted on canvas: Durer probably
preferred canvas to panel because it simplified the execution, for
the painting as well as for the transportation. This painting, now
in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, did not
have the inscription on parchment, which was added only after the
emperor's death on 12 January 1519. The inscription is in German. It
was transcribed, translated in Latin, in capital letters on the
third panel portrait, now in Vienna.
It is this last painting that is the "true" portrait of the emperor,
with even the Halsburg coat of arms. Maximilian is depicted clad in
silk and cloaked by a precious, rich fur.
The pomegranate, which in the preceding portrait he held in both
hands, now is held by one hand alone. It is probably a symbol of
abundance, or perhaps of the conquest of Granada. The Gold Toson
does not hang from his chest, but is now hanging around the imperial
coat of arms.
Selecting and refining the details from one portrait to another,
Durer came to create a truly imposing and clearly humanist regal
portrait—posthumous, as his blank stare surely alludes to his recent
death. In both portraits, the head is traced from the first drawing.
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