Abrecht Dürer, Self Portrait (1500)Alte Pinakothek, Munich
(Source)
One of the great artists of the Northern Renaissance, Albrecht Dürer (1471 - 1528) based in Nuremberg. Dürer was also great at self-promotion. Apart from painting, Dürer also wrote a number of texts on perspective and geometry, made engravings, and woodcut prints. All his works contained his monogram signature - the little AD mark in the top left of the painting. By making prints which were easily transportable containing his mark, Dürer's fame spread internationally.
Dürer made a number of self-portraits in a time and place when the subject matter was not particularly common. The 1500 version is his final existing portrait and the most famous. While his previous portraits showed him as being fashionably dressed and with detailed background, this is comparatively simple and sombre. Depicting the artist in a Christ-like pose, the painting is not seen as blasphemous, and is instead read as reflecting man as being made in the image of God as well as Dürer's undisputed talent as an artist being a divine gift.
The inscription reads 'Thus I, Albrecht Dürer from Nuremburg, painted myself with indelible colours at the age of 28 years.'
Dürer made a number of self-portraits in a time and place when the subject matter was not particularly common. The 1500 version is his final existing portrait and the most famous. While his previous portraits showed him as being fashionably dressed and with detailed background, this is comparatively simple and sombre. Depicting the artist in a Christ-like pose, the painting is not seen as blasphemous, and is instead read as reflecting man as being made in the image of God as well as Dürer's undisputed talent as an artist being a divine gift.
The inscription reads 'Thus I, Albrecht Dürer from Nuremburg, painted myself with indelible colours at the age of 28 years.'
1 comment:
I can't get over the talent of being able to paint/draw people so they look like photos. So awesome.
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