Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/618

* DURER. 540 DTJRER. considered, of the German Renaissance. He was born at Nuremberg. May 21, 1471, the third of a family of eighteen eliildren. His father, a goldsmith, was of Hungarian descent, and had come to Nuremberg in 1455. The lad worked with his father at the goldsmith's trade, and his early talent for design is shown in a clever drawing" of himself at the age of thirteen, in the .Albertina Collection, Vienna, and in a pen draw- ing of the "Madonna with Two Angels" (1485) in the Museum of Berlin. He was ai)prenticed in 1480 to the painter Wohlgemutli, and studied witii him three and a half years. In 14flO he entered upon his travels, visiting various Ger- man towns, among «liich were Colmar and Ba.sel, and probably also visiting Venice. In 1494 he returned to Nuremberg and married Agnes Frey, the beautiful daughter of a cultured merchant. She was probably a good wife, and not the Xantijjpe she was reputed to be, thanks to the pique of Diirer"s friend Pirklieimer. In 1497 Diirer opened a studio of his own at Nurem- berg, and figured henceforth as an independent master. The work executed up to the time of his visit to Venice, in 1505, belongs tc his first period. His early engravings and drawings show the influence of Mantegna, and also that he probably had some opjiortunity of studying the antique. He was also influenced by Jaeopo dei Barbari, a Venetian artist then residins. in Nureml)erg, who tauglit him anatomy and ideal proportions. His religious subjects were chiefly altar-pieces, designed by himself, but mostly executed by his pupils, according to the custom of German paint- ers of the day. The earliest is in the Dresden Gallery, and represents the "Virgin Adoring the Sleeping Christ-Child." Another, the Baumgar- ten altar (Munich), portrays the "Nativity," and the figures of the 'donors' in knightly armor. Botli of these are, for the most part, by Diirer himself. The best of these religious subjects of the first period is the "Adoration of the Magi," painted in 1504 for Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, but now in the Iffizi Gallery at Florence. ' It is well composed, and enriched by charming landscape, with good jjerspective. The Virgin is fair-haired and German, and the kings are dignified and well-modeled figures, with fine heads. The portraits of this period were executed without the assistance of his pupils, and are distinguished for strength and character. There are two interesting portraits of Durer's father — one in the Uffizi, executed before his "W'ander- jahre," in 1490. and the other at Sion House, London, done in 1497. .mong the very best of his portraits are two of himself. That of 1498, of which the original is in Jfadrid (the Florence example being a copy of a replica), shows a youth of noble features, with long fair hair, and the fine figure for which he was cele- brated. In the more mature, full-face por- trait of 1500 (Munich), the beautiful ring- lets are even more luxuriant, and the head is Christ-like in its refinement and dignity. Among his other portraits of this period are two of "Katharine Fiirleger" ( Frankfort ), of Hans Tueher and his wife (1499, Weimar), of Oswald Krell ( 1499, Munich), and of Frederick the Wise (Berlin), The Venetian journey of 1.505 caused a change in Durer's art. Before this time his work was angular and stifT, like that of the German school. The study of the antique and of the works of ^'enetian masters refined his sense of form and gave him a larger view of art"; but he never lost a jot of his individuality, remaining thoroughly realist and German. He was es|H'cially influ- enced by Giovanni Bellini, whom he considered the greatest of painters, and who proved a good friend. The other Venetian painters viewed him with curiosity and envy, but the nobility honored him, and before lie h'fl Venice the 'enetian Coun- cil offered him an annual pension of 200 ducats to remain. He also visited Bologna and Fer- rara, and was on his way to Padua to see Man- tegna, whom he much honored, but turned back on news of the death of that master, arriving at Nuremberg late in 1507. Modern research has shown that the real cause of Durer's visit to Venice was a commission from the German merchants of Venice to paint a large altar piece for their chapel in San Bar- tolonimeo. This picture, long in Strahow Abbey, Prague, is now in the Rudolphinvun of that city. It has been much damaged by restoration ; but even now we can see that it must have been won- derful in composition and color. Its subject is the "Festival of the Rosary." and it represents "the Virgin and the Christ-Child giving wreaths of roses to the Emjieror Maximilian and to Pope •Julius II.. while Saint Dominic and angels do the like to the bystanders. His "("hrist Disputing with the Doctors" (l.iOfi), now in the Barberini Palace, Rome, was executed, as the inscription records, in the space of five days, and shows Durer's facility and skill with the brush. Among his other religious subjects are the ".Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand" (1.508), ordered by Fred- crick the Wise, now in the Vienna -Museum of Fine Arts, and the Heller altar-piece, of which the original was destroyed. The "Adoration of the Trinity' ( 1511 ) . in the Museum of Vienna, is the best-preserved of Diirer's pictures, fine in coloring and devout in sentiment. Among his other works of the second period are a small but exquisite "Christ on the Cross" ( 150G, Dresden), exquisite in execution and sentiment, and a "Madonna with the Pear" (1512, Munich). His "Adam and Eve" (1507), in JIadrid (the Florentine examples being copies or replicas), show what he learned in Italy as to treatment of the nude. It is somewhat idealized, not a copy of the model, as was custom- ary in Germany. His heads of "Saints James and Philip" (1516, Ufilzi) are of great strength, and his "Lucrctia" (1518, Munich), a fine nude, is one of his few mythological subjects. Among his portraits are two fine examples of unknown young men, at Vienna and at Hampton Court. His well known portrait of Charles the Great, with crown and sceptre, and that of the Emperor Sigismund (both in the CJermanic Museum, Nu- remberg), date from 1510. In the summer of 1.520 Durer, accompanied by his wife and servant, made a journey to the Netherlands which lasted over a vear. His ob- ject was to meet the new Emperor, Charles V., when lie landed at. twerp. in order to obtain a renewal of the pension which he had enjoyed under Maximilian. He has left us an interesting journal of his journey, and he also kept a sketch- book, many of the leaves of which survive. He was received with great honor all along his jour- ney, especially by the painters of Flanders, who