Albrecht Durer: The Master of German Art.
6, The seven sorrows of the Virgin.
Currently held in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, the central panel of this polyptych features the
grieving Virgin after the Crucifixion, originally framed with seven surrounding panels, which are
now housed separately in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister of Dresden. The panels were commissioned
by Frederick the Great soon after the completion of the previous portrait in Dürer’s newly
established Nuremberg workshop in April 1496. Stylistic considerations suggest that the artist
started to work on the painting only from c. 1500. Modern scholars only attribute to Dürer
the central panel, believing the others were executed by his pupils based on his designs.
The altarpiece was originally much larger, close to three meters in width, with the right half
portraying the Seven Joys of the Virgin. However, these scenes are now lost, with the extant left
half presenting the Seven Sorrows, while the Seven Joys are only known through copies. The central
image depicts the grieving Virgin, gripping a golden sword, about to pierce her heart.
Surrounding the Virgin are seven smaller panels with detailed scenes from the life of Christ,
beginning anticlockwise on the top left with the Circumcision, followed by the Flight into Egypt,
Christ among the Doctors, the Bearing of the Cross, the Nailing to the Cross,
the Crucifixion and the Lamentation. The whole altarpiece was acquired in
the mid-sixteenth century by the artist Lucas Cranach the Younger, whose illustrious father
had served as court painter in Wittenberg. Cranach the Younger is believed to have
cut the work into separate panels, causing the original division of the polyptych.
The central panel, portraying the Sorrowing Mother,
arrived in the Bavarian museum from the Benediktbeuren convent of Munich
in the early nineteenth century. It was restored in the 1930’s, removing overpaintings
and additions, to reveal previously unseen elements. The shell-shaped niche, the halo
and the sword on the right allowed scholars to identify the correct subject of the piece. In
1640 the other panels were moved from Wittenberg to the Kunstkammer of the Prince of Saxony.
7, Self Portrait, 1498.
Dürer’s second extant self portrait is dated to 1498,
bearing the inscription: “I have thus painted myself. I was 26 years old. Albrecht Dürer.”
Although during the Middle Ages artists were still considered as mere craftsmen in Germany,
Dürer refused to accept such status, portraying himself in a haughty and aristocratic manner.
Making a notable contrast with the 1493 self portrait, the artist’s pose appears self
confident, as he stands upright, turning slightly to lean his right arm on a ledge. His figure fills
the picture plane, with his hat close to the top. Light streams into the room from the right,
highlighting his prominent features, while his long curly hair is depicted in fine detail.
Dürer now has a full beard, unusual among young men at that time. His clothing is flamboyant,
as demonstrated by the elegant jacket, edged with black,
and the white, pleated shirt underneath, which is embroidered along the neckline. Dürer’s
fashionable kid gloves also comment upon the artist’s burgeoning wealth in the late 1490’s.
The interior contains a tall archway, framing Dürer’s head, and to the right a window opens out
with the view of an idealised landscape, where green fields give way to a tree-ringed lake.
Snow-capped mountains can be glimpsed in the distance,
most likely to signal the artist’s journey over the Alps three years earlier. This device of
presenting a distant landscape, viewed through a window, is borrowed from Dutch portraiture.
This portrait was later acquired by Charles I of England, as well as Philip IV of Spain.
8, Portrait of Oswolt Krel.
This 1499 canvas, now housed in Munich’s Alte Pinakothek, comes from the collection
of the Princes Oettingen-Wallerstein, who had acquired the painting in 1812.
It is presumed that Oswolt Krel, a merchant of the Ravensburg House in Nuremberg from 1495 to 1503,
had requested a true representation, indicated by the portrait’s notable size and its half-length
setting, all suggesting that it was intended for private use. Krel was the same age as
Dürer and he was later to become the mayor of Lindau, the merchant’s native city.
Two side panels accompany the portrait, representing two “sylvan men” and Krel’s
heraldic shields. It was originally intended that the portrait should be closed from the retro,
allowing the large painting to be conserved. The background of the scene is divided unevenly
between a curtain and a landscape of tall trees, with the latter receiving less attention.
The large fur-lined cloak is casually placed on the right shoulder only, revealing a rich black
garment with a puffed sleeve on the left. The three-quarter format allows Dürer to focus on
the quality of the Krel’s garments and gold chain. The red curtain occupies most of the space on the
right, its bright hues providing a strong contrast to Krel’s facial features. The sitter is presented
with distinct pomp, his expression severe, even menacing. At odds with this, his left hand
clutches his cloak in an anxious manner, while the contraction of the knotted fingers of the
right hand, as he leans on an invisible window sill, adds an impression of forced restraint.
At once we are given the impression of a commanding presence that should be feared,
perhaps hinting that Krel himself is unaware of the full extent of his strength or power.
9, Self-portrait with fur-trimmed robe.
Dürer’s third and final self portrait was painted early in 1500, just before the artist’s
twenty-ninth birthday. Considered to be the most personal and complex of his self portraits,
it is remarkable for its resemblance to many earlier representations of Christ and its direct
confrontation with the viewer. The portrait is half-length, frontal and highly symmetrical,
with no conventional background features that would indicate a specific time or place. It
also features two inscriptions, placed in dark fields on either side of Dürer,
as if floating in space, emphasising the highly symbolic nature of the work.
Brown tones set against the plain black background establish a sombre mood. The
face has the inflexibility and impersonal dignity of a mask, hiding all emotion that is within.
At the time of its completion, a frontal pose was exceptional for a secular portrait.
Medieval and Early Renaissance art had developed the more challenging three-quarters view and
artists were often keen to demonstrate their skill in using this new format. A frontal pose
therefore would have been most associated with images from medieval religious art,
particularly representations of Christ. Unlike the previous two self portraits,
where Dürer stresses his fashionable hairstyle and clothing, this last interpretation of the theme
presents the artist as a more mature and grounded man. In the medieval view of the stages of life,
the age of twenty-eight marked the transition from youth to maturity.
The portrait therefore commemorates a turning point in the artist’s life, as well as in the
millennium: the year 1500 being displayed in the centre of the upper left background field.
Dürer has opted to present himself monumentally, in a style that unmistakably recalls depictions of
Christ, perhaps playing upon the suggestion that there is a parallel with Christ in
the artist’s role as a creator. This view is supported by the painting’s Latin inscription,
composed by Celtes’ personal secretary, which translates as;
“I, Albrecht Dürer of Nuremberg portrayed myself in everlasting colours aged twenty-eight years”.
This final self portrait was most likely donated or sold by Dürer to the Nuremberg city council,
by whom it was held on continuous public display in Nuremberg from just before his
death in 1528 until 1805, when it was sold to the Bavarian Royal Collection.
The painting is now housed in Munich’s Alte Pinakothek,
while a copy replaces the original that had been on display in the City Hall.
10, Lamentation for Christ.
Dürer was commissioned by Albrecht Glimm, a goldsmith, to produce a panel painting
of the Lamentation for Christ for the patron’s first wife, Margareth Holzhausen,
who had died on 22 October 1500. The scene is composed of nine figures under the cross,
framed by a beautiful landscape in which Jerusalem can be seen by the lakeshore in the foreground.
The depiction of Jerusalem as a city near water, with house, towers and fortification walls,
lying against rocky mountains, indicates that is an invented, Nordic city, rather than the actual
appearance of the Holy City. In the centre of the canvas, we can see the door opening into
the garden of Gethsemane, while on the right, there is the entrance to the tomb in the rock,
through which we can also see the uncovered sarcophagus. The painting is celebrated for
its range of detailed and individual depictions of the sufferers around the figure of Christ,
providing a scale of pain and grief through various degrees of feeling.
The theme of the Lamentation for Christ is from a Dutch, not a German tradition.
Dürer interprets the theme in Italian terms, associating the nine figures in groups of three.
The first triad features Nicodemus, Mary Magdalene and Saint John the Evangelist,
aligned in an ascending order under the cross. In the second triad in the centre,
the three Marys represent three ages of life, as the Madonna wrings her hands in sorrow,
accompanied by the other two Marys, who share her grief. The last triad includes Joseph of
Arimathea, supporting the body of Christ with the sudarium — the cloth used to wrap around
Christ following the crucifixion. Christ’s skin is pale, accentuated by light coming from the left,
while his limbs appear realistically limp and lifeless.
The entire scene is illuminated by light, suggesting, perhaps,
that the suffering of the lamentation should be accompanied by a feeling of comfort, witnessed by
John and Mary Magdalene, whose hopeful gazes are turned toward this light. According to medieval
tradition, the figures of the donors are painted, kneeling at the bottom of the scene: on the right,
in the position of honour, there is the goldsmith Albrecht Glimm with his coat of arms and two sons,
while to the left we can see his late wife with her coat of arms and daughter.