Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/621

* DUREE. 541 DUREB. at Bruges, Client, ami Aulwerp gave him festi- vals. Margaret of Parma. Kegeiit of the XetUer- lands, received him with honor, and he painted a portrait of the King of Denmark. He was present at tiie EmiJeror"s coronation at Aix-la- Chapelle, where his jiension was renewed. He was much impressed with the art of the Nether- lands, especially with that of the Van Eycks in the Ghent altar, and as a result he became more naturalistic than ever. The works ]noduced after his return to Nuremberg lielong lo his third and greatest period of painting. The year I'rlCi is remarkable for the comple- tion of a number of Uiirer's best paintings. First to be mentioned are his "Four Apostles" (some- times called the "Four Temperaments"), com- posed of two panels of life-size figures of the Apostles John, Peter, Hark, and Paul. They were executed at a time when the use of religious images was coming under the ban of the Refor- mation. For years they remained in the coun- cil chamber of Nurembei'g, but are now in the Munich Gallery. They are Diirer's greatest I paintings, and never did a painter's art produce stronger and more individual representations. The heads of the Apostles are dignified and sub- lime, the drapery is simple and majestic, and although the details are executed with great care, they do not detract from the general effect. The coloring is faultless, especially in the white and red robes of John. The same year he com- pleted his best portrait — that of Hieronynius Holzschuher. The head is of wonderful strength and character, and the difficult color scheme is skillfully handled; the hair is perfectly while, while the eyes are blue and the face is ruddy and the background green. In the same year he completed the portraits of the two other aldermen of Nuremberg — Jakob Muflfel (Berlin) and .Jo- hannes Kleeberger (Munich). The fine portrait of Hans Imhof (Madrid), a third Nuremberg councilor, dates from 1521. Diirer passed the latter part of his life in affluence, and was held in bigli honor by his townsmen, as much for his character as for his art. "His least merit was his art." said Me- lanchthon. His most intimate friend was Willi- bald Pirkheimer, the Nuremberg merchant and humanist: he also enjoyed the friendship of Dra.smus. Luther, and Melanchthon. and was highly thought of by Frederick the Wise and the Emperor Maximilian, who allowed him an annual pension of 100 gulden. In 1.518 he began his portrait of the Emperor at the Diet of Augs- burg, finished in I5I0. and now in Vienna. In 1510 he carried on his famous correspondence with Raphael, who sent him drawings in return for a crayon portrait of himself. He died at Nuremtjerg on April 15. 1528, of consumption, rontraoted in the Netherlands. He was buried in the riiurchyard of Saint .John. A fine monument by Ranch was erected to him in the Fischmarkt, where his house still stands. ifost of Diirer's works are signed with his quaint monogram <^b^> and are dated. His coloring va- ^is~%' rics much in ex- cellence, being Mi-j sometimes bright and harmonious. -^ ^ at others hard and dry. He inherited the angularity of form of the German school, as may be especially seen in his draperies : but this was much softened by Ital- ian influenec. He paid much attention to detail, and his German exactness often detracts from the etVect of the -Aiiole. His com^iosition is sometimes awkward and crowded. But in his best work he avoided these errors, and his drawing was always excellent. The finest collection of his drawings is in the Albertina, Vienna, which has aliove a liundred. Next to this is the British Museum, and after that Berlin. His draw;ings were all finished with care and exactness, and they were executed on various materials, with the pen, pencil, and brush. Sometimes they were outlined in water-colors, sometimes studies on paper and parchment in body-color. In the Augsburg Gal- lery there is a life-size Jladonna in body-eolors; other famous examples are the "Lions" (Ham- burg), the ".Jay's Wing" (Berlin), and the "Hare" (Albertina). He also painted a few water-color iandsca]x>s, which show fine observa- tion and technical ability; a noted example is the "Mill" (Berlin). Among his tinted draw- ings are "Women Bathing" (Bremen), and "Venus with Cupid Stung by Bees" (British Museum). His famous "Green Passion" (Al- bertina ), a series of jien and brush drawings on green paper, ranks with his best engravings. Among his best pen and ink drawings are the "Adoration of the Kings" (.lbertina). and espe- cially the "Prayer-Book of the Emperor Maxi- milian" (Munich Library), in which he decorat- ed the borders of forty- five pages with drawings in red, green, and violet ink. Diirer was best known to contemporaries as an engraver, and in this art he ranks even higher than as a painter. He was easily the most prominent engraver of his day. and one of the very greatest of all times. In this art his imag- ination, his facility and dramatic action have full play. Before his day wood-cuts were mere outlines, and copper plates consisted of dark fig- ures on light backgrounds. Diirer introduced light and shade into engraving, giving it tone and thus making it pictorial. He designed over a hundred wood-cuts, four great series, besides many single plates. The "Apocalypse" series (16 pages, published 1498) shows his mastery of the art, and an extraordinary fantasy in making real the tangible visions of Saint •John. The fourth plate, representing the "Four Rider* of the Apocalypse," is especially good. His "Large Passion." a series of twelve plates, was produced for the most part in 1500. though published in 1511. His "Life of the Virgin." a charming series of si.xteen plates, was executed chiefly in 1501-05 and published in 1511. The "Little Passion" is a series of thirty-seven plates, executed in his best period (1500-10). Wc can but wonder at the invention displayed in the different versions of the same event, as comjiared with the "Large Passion." The "Triumphal .rcli of Maximilian," executed after 1512, was a series of ninety plates so engraved as to form a triumphal arch ten feet high. The subjects of the different plates were laudatory of the Em- peror, and of these twenty-four were by Diirer, including the chief subject, the "Triumphal Car," containing the Emperor and his family. In copper engraving Diirer is equally re- nowned. His first works are executed in the manner of Schongauer and Mantegna — dark fig- ures on a light background. Another interest- ing group of his copper plates is identical, ex- cept that the figtires are reversed and better executed, with those of another engraver, whose signature was 'VV,' probably Wohlgemuth, It