Albrecht Durer
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Portrait of Oswolt Krel new21/Albrecht Durer-365323.jpg Painting ID:: 63737
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1499 Oil on panel, 50 x 39 cm (central), 50 x 16 cm (each side panel) Alte Pinakothek, Munich Inscription in the top left by someone else (?): OSWOLT KREL 1499. This portrait comes from the collection of the Princes Oettingen-Wallerstein, who had acquired it in 1812; if has been in its present location since 1928. It is presumed that Oswolt Krell, a merchant for the Ravensburg House in Nuremberg from 1495 to 1503, had asked the artist for a true portrait of representation. Its notable size, similar to that adopted by D?rer for the portrait of his father two years earlier, and its setting, a half-length, suggests this. In this way, it differs from the Tucher portraits, which were intended for private use. The background, as in the Tucher portraits (Schlossmuseum, Weimar), is divided between the curtain and landscape passage, unlike those, however, it is divided rather unevenly. The bright red curtain is wide and occupies most of the space on the right; the landscape, on the left, is reduced to a foreshortening that shows a small part of a river that meanders toward the back, behind a group of tall trees. The windowsill that separated the subject from the landscape in the Tucher paintings is absent. The figure represented, set with obvious grandiosity, is found in front of the curtain, highlighted by intense colour. The large fur-lined cloak is casually placed on the right shoulder only, to show, on the left side, the rich black garment with the puffed sleeve. To the disorderly folds of the cloak correspond the parallel horizontal folds of the sleeve and the vertical ones of the garment. The three-quarter position allows the painter to bring out the quality of the attire: the fur, silk shirt, and gold chain. The careful, fastidious representation of these meaningful details creates a powerful foundation for the setting of the head: vigorous, strong features, the pronounced nose and the strong-willed mouth, the furrowed eyebrows, as if from a sudden start or fright that makes him direct his gaze off to the side behind him. Everything works to make his face threateningly severe, which even the soft, light brown hair framing him does not attenuate. To the energetic expression of the face corresponds the nervous look of his left hand clutching his cloak and that of the contraction of the knotted fingers of the right hand that leans on an invisible window sill. Colour, form, and proportion heighten the expression of supreme resolution, an expression that is the result of a serious psychological study that D?rer conducted on the merchant, who was the same age as the artist and who was later to become the mayor of Lindau, his native city. The two side panels that represent two "sylvan men" are wings to the portrait. They bear the heraldic shields of the subject and his wife, Agathe von Esendorf. They originally let the portrait be closed from the retro; one could imagine, then, that despite the large dimensions, the painting was to be conserved closed. The present frame has been made recently.Artist:D?RER, Albrecht Title: Portrait of Oswolt Krel Painted in 1501-1550 , German - - painting : portrait |
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Self-Portrait in a Fur-Collared Robe new21/Albrecht Durer-676586.jpg Painting ID:: 63738
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1500 Oil on lime panel, 67,1 x 48,7 cm Alte Pinakothek, Munich The last of D?rer's three magnificent self-portraits was painted early in 1500, before his 29th birthday on 21 May. The picture is proudly inscribed: `Thus I, Albrecht D?rer from Nuremburg, painted myself with indelible colours at the age of 28 years.' It is a sombre image, painted primarily in browns, set against a plain dark background. The face is striking for its resemblance to the head of Christ. In late medieval art, Jesus was traditionally presented in this manner, looking straight ahead in a symmetrical pose. Christ's brown hair in these images is parted towards the middle and falls over the shoulders. For the first and last time in Western art history, an artist was to portray himself in a Christ-like scheme. Given his idealized appearance as the underdrawing shows, his nose was originally irregular in shape - D?rer is approaching us in "imitatio Christi", in imitation of Christ. He has a short beard and moustache. D?rer has even painted himself with brown hair, although the other self-portraits show that it was actually reddish-blond. D?rer deliberately set out to create a Christ-like image, with his hand raised to his chest almost in a pose of blessing. But this was no gesture of arrogance or blasphemy. It was a statement of faith: Christ was the son of God and God had created Man. For D?rer, the painting was an acknowledgment that artistic skills were a God-given talent. However, D?rer has subtly departed from the traditional image of Christ in his self-portrait. Despite initial appearances, the picture is not quite symmetrical. The head lies just off the centre of the panel to the right and the parting of the hair is not exactly in the middle, with the strands of hair falling a little differently on the two sides. The eyes stare slightly towards the left of the panel. D?rer also wears contemporary clothing, a fashionable fur-lined mantle. The result is a highly personal image, one whose `indelible colours' still influence the way we imagine D?rer looked in his later years. The deceptive illusionism in which the picture is painted is also, however, a reference to the classical artistic legend about Apelles, with whom he had been compared by contemporary humanists.Artist:D?RER, Albrecht Title: Self-Portrait in a Fur-Collared Robe Painted in 1501-1550 , German - - painting : portrait |
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Adoration of the Magi new21/Albrecht Durer-588826.jpg Painting ID:: 63739
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1504 Oil on wood Galleria degli Uffizi, FlorenceArtist:D?RER, Albrecht Title: Adoration of the Magi (detail) Painted in 1501-1550 , German - - painting : religious |
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Emperor Charlemagne new21/Albrecht Durer-887929.jpg Painting ID:: 63740
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1512 Oil on lindenwood, 188 x 87,6 cm Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg The idealized portrait of Emperor Charlemagne was intended for the "Heiltumskammer" in the Schoppersche House by the marketplace, together with the portrait of Emperor Sigismund of Poland (also in Nuremberg). This was where the coronation insignia and relics were kept, which were put on display once a year at the so-called "Heiltumsweisungen." The physiognomy of Charlemagne, shown in the magnificent original coronation robes, is reminiscent of depictions of God the Father. The crown, sword and imperial orb were prepared by D?rer in sketches. The German imperial coat of arms and French coat of arms with the fleur-de-lis are emblazoned at the top.Artist:D?RER, Albrecht Title: Emperor Charlemagne Painted in 1501-1550 , German - - painting : portrait |
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Lamentation for Christ new21/Albrecht Durer-853959.jpg Painting ID:: 63741
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1500-03 Oil on panel Alte Pinakothek, Munich This scene is framed above by a beautiful landscape in which Jerusalem can be seen off the lakeshore, atop a hill, in the foreground. Behind the city is a mountain peak and a mountain range that disappear into the background. The city, mountains, and lake are flooded with light. A thick blanket of heavy black clouds that thins out just above the lake in the back looms over the mountains. While the presence of the black clouds is justified by the narration of the crucifixion ("and darkness came over the whole land...while the sun's light failed," Luke 23:45), and the light is explained by the words of the apocryphal gospel of Saint Peter when he describes the position ("and the sun began to shine again ", 6:21), the Jerusalem that appears in the painting - a city near water, with house, towers, and fortification walls, lying against rocky mountains - is decidedly an invented, Nordic city, which does not at all reflect the actual appearance, well known at that time, of this blessed city.Artist:D?RER, Albrecht Title: Lamentation for Christ (detail) Painted in 1501-1550 , German - - painting : religious |
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