Albrecht Dürer More Art

German, 1471-1528

Albrecht Dürer revolutionized woodcut printmaking as an artform and his influence over the medium's practitioners has endured for centuries. Revered for his masterfully detailed prints and drawings, the German artist was driven by boundless curiosity. Dürer was the Renaissance personified in 16th-century northern Europe — he was more deeply engaged in the pursuits of the era’s Italian painters than any other artist from the region, an attribute that earned him the title “Leonardo of the North.”

Trained initially as a goldsmith in his father’s workshop, Dürer’s talent for art materialized early, in a self-portrait at the age of 13 in 1484. Held in the Albertina Museum in Vienna, this silverpoint drawing is one of the oldest extant self-portraits in European art.

While Dürer traveled extensively, his two stays in Venice, which took place during the turn of the 16th century, were among the most influential. There he became increasingly acquainted with the work of great Italian artists including Gentile and Giovanni Bellini, Antonio Pollaiuolo, Leonardo da Vinci and a young Raphael. Naturally, Dürer found great inspiration in the Venetians’ theoretical interests, techniques, use of color and more.

Over the course of his career, Dürer received commissions from Frederick the Wise-Elector of Saxony, Emperor Maximilian I and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. At one point he was commissioned to draw the first living rhinoceros seen in Europe since the Roman Empire. Despite having never actually seen the animal, Dürer made the now-famous c. 1515 woodcut based on one written account and brief sketch. For years it remained the common interpretation of what rhinos looked like to Europeans.

Dürer’s woodcuts were widely disseminated during his time, and he is the best known artist associated with the Northern Renaissance. His breathtaking technical prowess is most prominent in his three master engravings — Saint Jerome in His Study, Melencolia I and Knight, Death, and the Devil — profoundly influential works that are characterized by rich textures and meticulously detailed imagery.

Dürer’s work is in the collections of many museums, including the National Gallery in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, while his former home in Nuremberg, Germany, has been converted into a museum dedicated to his legacy. Important works like Hare and Praying Hands can be found in the Albertina, while his second famous self-portrait from 1500 — which depicts Dürer in a fur-trimmed robe — is on display in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.

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Artist: Albrecht Dürer

The Penance of St. Chrysostom by Albrecht Dürer

By Albrecht Dürer

Located in New Orleans, LA

Albrecht Dürer 1471-1528 German The Penance of St. Chrysostom Monogrammed in the plate lower center "AD" Copper engraving on laid paper “Whatever was mortal in Albrecht Dürer li...

Category

15th Century and Earlier Old Masters Albrecht Dürer More Art

Materials

Copper

Albrecht Dürer
The Penance of St. Chrysostom by Albrecht Dürer, Circa 1497

$42,500

Category

17th Century Old Masters Albrecht Dürer More Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of a Lady in White Chemise, Russet & Blue Drapery c.1695, Oil Painting, c.1695

$8,069

H 29.14 in W 24.41 in D 1.58 in

Oil Portrait of a Victorian Lady, c. 1850

Located in Chicago, IL

Painted in the 19th century, this exquisite miniature portrait wonderfully exemplifies realism in traditional oil painting. The small artwork is painted in the conventional portraiture style of the Old Masters, and achieves soft realism with fine brushwork and a subdued, neutral palette. The half length portrait depicts a fine Victorian woman dressed in all black with a delicate lace collar and bonnet. She wears a ruby broach...

Category

Mid-19th Century Old Masters Albrecht Dürer More Art

Materials

Oil

Oil Portrait of a Victorian Lady, c. 1850, c. 1850

$1,480

H 13.75 in W 11.5 in D 1.75 in

Portrait of a Gentleman, Doublet & White Ruff, Gloves Inscribed 1624, on panel

By Frans Pourbus the Younger

Located in London, GB

Titan Fine Art presents this exquisite oil on panel portrait depicting a handsome young gentleman in an exuberant black damask doublet. The pose, with one hand holding gloves and the other akimbo, was one that was well-established for gentleman of the upper echelons of society by the time this work was painted. The principle governing portraits at this time was the recording and defining in visual terms of the position of a sitter in society. In addition to brilliant and complex symbols of luxury, they often contained many symbolic elements too; the inclusion of gloves was often used in portraits that celebrated a betrothal as in ancient times gloves were used to seal a marriage contract. The extraordinary costume of a black shimmering doublet, the brilliant white reticella ruff, and the cuffs edged with lace were immensely costly… this attire proclaims to every onlooker that this is a superior being. The rendering of the reticella lace ruff is exquisite and the artist has recorded the design that runs through the black damask fabric with meticulous attention to detail. The preservation of this black pigment is remarkable considering the age of the work. Black pigments are especially vulnerable to fade and wear over time partly due to environmental condition but also from unprofessional cleaning. This work is an exquisite example from the period. According to the inscription in the upper right, the gentleman was in his 22nd year of age in 1624. The coat of arms, which is displayed without a crest, may be ‘blazoned’ in the language of heraldry, as: Sable on a Chevron between in chief two Roundels and in base a Billet [or possibly Square] Or three Martlets Sable. In plainer English this means a black (Sable) background, spanned by a gold (Or) chevron, above which are two golden solid circles (Roundels), and below which is a gold rectangle (Billet); on the chevron are three small black birds (Martlets). Martlets are a stylised form of heraldic bird, believed to be based on the swift, which are conventionally drawn with small tufts instead of feet. In Continental Europe it is also conventional for them to be drawn without beaks, as appears to be the case here. The birds in this instance also have a vaguely duck-like appearance. Five families have been identified with very close armorial bearings to the one in our portrait. They are the (van) Houthem’s (of Brabant), the Prévinaire’s (of Flanders and Holland), and the Proveneer’s (of Liège) and it must be noted that the locations of these families also fit with the painting’s Flemish origins. However the French Grenières’s (of Île-de-France) and the Jallot’s (of Normandy) are the next closest matches and plausible matches, as Frans Pourbus had settled in Paris just a few years before our portrait was painted. This painting has been assessed by a professional conservator prior to going on sale, and as thus, it can be hung and enjoyed immediately. Frans Pourbus the Younger...

Category

17th Century Old Masters Albrecht Dürer More Art

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Portrait of a Gentleman, Doublet & White Ruff, Gloves Inscribed 1624, on panel, 1624

$18,249

H 42.13 in W 31.11 in D 3.94 in

Still life with grapes , 50x65cm, oil on canvas

Located in Yerevan, AM

Still life with grapes , 50x65 cm, oil on canvas

Category

2010s Old Masters Albrecht Dürer More Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Alexander Kanukov
Still life with grapes , 50x65cm, oil on canvas

$2,062 Sale Price

25% Off

H 19.69 in W 25.6 in

Portrait of a Lady in Green Dress & Pearl Jewellery c.1660 Painting John Wright

By John Michael Wright

Located in London, GB

In this exquisite work, painted around the time of the Great Fire of London in 1666, a beautiful young woman is wearing a green dress over a white chemise and a russet-coloured scarf...

Category

17th Century Old Masters Albrecht Dürer More Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

$249

H 40 in W 37 in