The Works of Albrecht Durer

One of the leading artists of the Renaissance was the German Albrecht Durer, who was a master of proportion and perspective, and had a love and fascination of nature and the human body, shared by contemporary Italians.

Durer never fully embraced classical allegory, instead drawing inspiration from Christian legends. A large majority of his pieces were rooted in religion, expressing a scholarly absorption of scripture and humanizing the saints in ways that were previously unseen.

Engraving of St Jerome

At age 15 Durer was apprenticed to the principal painter of town, Michael Wolgemut, who was an unknown producer of small amounts of work in the late Gothic style. Under Wolgemut's watchful eye he learned painting, wood carving, and elementary copper engraving. Durer ended his apprenticeship in 1490, then in 1492 he journeyed to Colmar to study under Martin Schongauer, a respected painter and engraver. Upon his arrival he learned that Schongauer had passed away, but he received such a warm welcome that he decided to stay with Scholgauer's family and practice metal-engraving and furnishing designs for the woodcutter. He stayed there till 1494, then travelled briefly. From this time in his life little to no work can be credited to him, although it is certain that he must have produced at least a small amount.

During Durer's first few years from 1495 he worked in established Germanic and Northern forms, but was open to the influences of the Renaissance. His best works in this period were wood-block printing, typical scenes of devotion that later developed into his famous series of sixteen great designs for Apocalypse, which was first carved in 1498.

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Durer continued with the first seven scenes of the Great Passion in the same year.

Great Passion - Resurrection

Later he created a series of 11 wood-block printings on the Holy Family and of Saints.

Holy Family with Three Hares

Durer was so accomplished in his craft that he trained himself in more detailed and expensive copper-engraving techniques. At this time he mainly produced Madonnas, single figures from scripture or of saints, nude mythologies, and groups, sometimes satirical, of average people.

Sea Monster

Durer was not beyond being influenced by other artists. Jacopo de Barbari, a Venetian artist that he met in Venice, influenced Durer with new developments in perspective, anatomy, and proportion. From these influences Durer began his own studies, which helped extend his skill set beyond landscape into the quality of flesh and surfaces.

Adam and Eve

In 1506 Durer returned to Venice, and turned to painting. The quality of his engravings had earned him a reputation, and his work began to become popular enough that other artists had begun to imitate and copy him. Durer was commissioned by the emigrant German community for the church of St. Bartholomew, for which he painted the Adoration of the Virgin, also known as Feast of Rose Garlands. This painting was done closer to the Italian style than his previous works. It was eventually acquired by Emperor Rudolf II and taken to Prague.

Feast of Rose Garlands

Despite Durer's popularity in Venice, he returned to Nuremberg in 1507, where he remained until 1520. His reputation preceded him though, and he was on good terms with all of the artists and masters of the age.

The next years of Durer's life can be divided according to what type of work he preferred.

Between 1507 and 1511 was the painting years of his life. It was in this time that he produced what are considered his four best works in painting.

Adam and Eve - 1507

Virgin with the Iris - 1508

The alterpiece Assumption of the Virgin - 1509

Adoration of the Trinity by all the Saints - 1511

After he had moved past painting, he spent the years 1511 through 1514 concentrating on engraving, both wood and copper. Durer did 37 subjects of the Little Passion on wood in 1511, and a set of 15 small copper-engravings on the same theme in 1512. Between 1513 and 1514 his 3 most famous copper-engravings appeared, The Knight and Death in 1513, Melancholia and St. Jerome in his Study, both in 1514. 

The Knight and Death - 1513

St Jerome in his study - 1514

Melancholia - 1514

From 1514 to 1520 Durer produced a wider range of works, from tempera on linen portraits in 1516, to engravings, and experiments etching on plates of iron and zinc. He was responsible for part of the Triumphal Gate and Triumphal March for the Emperor Maximilian, as well as some small decorations for the emperor's prayer-book and a portrait-drawing of the emperor. Durer had become so well-known and respected that he was regularly commissioned for high-profile projects for public figures.

Emperor Maximilian

After journeying to the Netherlands, Durer returned back to Nuremberg, where he worked on a series of religious pictures. A few preliminary sketches survive, but at this time his declining health and preoccupation with writing prevented him from ever completing any other major art work. He put a lot of effort into writing his theories on geometry and perspective, and proportion and fortification. These writings were finished and published at the very end of his life, but they were a trade-off for any further work in painting or engraving.