Page:Chats on old prints (IA chatsonoldprints00haydiala).pdf/209

 compare with the best examples of Albert Dürer and Martin Schöngauer, to whom must be added Lucas van Leyden of the Dutch school.

The reproduction of the fine engraving by Albert Dürer of the Madonna and Child, executed in 1518, exhibits that master at his best. The strength of his design has already been shown in the wood engraving of Samson Slaying the Lion (opposite p. 80). The number of Dürer's prints is very great, and among the best known are The Prodigal Son (1504), The Knight, Death, and the Devil (1513), Melancholia (1514), and the beautiful series known as the Passion in Copper (1508-1513), to distinguish it from the same subjects executed in wood.

Although many of the prints of Dürer command very high prices; for instance, Melancholia in brilliant condition has brought over £60, and St. Hubert Kneeling before a Stag as much as £160, yet it is not impossible to obtain prints by Dürer for insignificant sums. The collector cannot be too wary in submitting all prints offered to him as the work of Dürer to the most searching examination, as forgeries of his work have been extant from his own day. The Standard Bearer, a small print, may be procured for half a sovereign. St. Sebastian (attached to a tree) for £1 5s., or an odd print from the sets of the Passion for half a sovereign. But the beginner is strongly advised not to commence with Dürer and embark upon the hazardous enterprise of attempting to obtain bargains in Dürer prints. It is really only after years of special study that the old hand is able now and then by a rare chance to pick up a fine print for a small sum.