Albrecht Dürer (German: Albrecht Dürer, May 21, 1471, Nuremberg - April 6, 1528, Nuremberg) was a German painter and graphic artist, one of the greatest masters of the Western European Renaissance. Recognized as the largest European master of woodcuts, who raised it to the level of real art. The first art theorist among Northern European artists, the author of a practical guide to fine and decorative arts in German, who advocated the need for the versatile development of artists. Founder of comparative anthropometry. The first European artist to write an autobiography.
The future artist was born on May 21, 1471 in Nuremberg, in the family of the jeweler Albrecht Dürer, who arrived in this German city from Hungary in the middle of the 15th century, and Barbara Holper. The Dürers had eighteen children, some, as Dürer the Younger himself wrote, died "in their youth, others when they grew up." In 1524, only three of the Durer children were alive - Albrecht, Hans and Endres.
The future artist was the third child and the second son in the family. His father, Albrecht Dürer the Elder, literally translated his Hungarian surname Aytosi (Hungarian Ajtósi, from the name of the village of Aytosh, from the word ajtó - “door.”) into German as Türer; subsequently it was transformed under the influence of the Frankish pronunciation and began to be written Dürer. Albrecht Dürer the Younger remembered his mother as a pious woman who lived a difficult life. Possibly weakened by her frequent pregnancies, she was sick a lot. Dürer's godfather was the famous German publisher Anton Koberger.
For some time, the Dürers rented half of the house (next to the city's central market) from the lawyer and diplomat Johann Pirckheimer. Hence the close acquaintance of two families belonging to different urban classes: the Pirckheimer patricians and the Durer artisans. With the son of Johann, Willibald, one of the most enlightened people in Germany, Dürer the Younger was friends all his life. Thanks to him, the artist later entered the circle of Nuremberg humanists, whose leader was Pirkheimer, and became his own person there.
From 1477 Albrecht attended a Latin school. At first, the father attracted his son to work in a jewelry workshop. However, Albrecht wished to paint. The elder Dürer, despite regretting the time spent on teaching his son, yielded to his requests, and at the age of 15 Albrecht was sent to the workshop of the leading Nuremberg artist of that time, Michael Wolgemuth. Dürer himself spoke about this in the “Family Chronicle”, created by him at the end of his life, one of the first autobiographies in the history of Western European art.
Wolgemut Dürer mastered not only painting, but also engraving on wood. Wolgemuth, together with his stepson Wilhelm Pleidenwurff, made engravings for Hartmann Schedel's Book of Chronicles. In the work on the most illustrated book of the 15th century, which experts consider the Book of Chronicles, Wolgemut was helped by his students. One of the engravings for this edition, "Dance of Death", is attributed to Albrecht Dürer.
Albrecht, who had dreamed of painting since childhood, insisted that his father send him to study as an artist. After his first trip to Italy, he still did not fully accept the achievements of the Italian masters, but in his works one can already feel an artist who thinks outside the box, always ready to search. The title of master (and with it the right to open his own workshop) Dürer received, probably, having completed the paintings in the "Greek manner" in the house of the Nuremberg citizen Sebald Schreyer. The young artist was noticed by Frederick the Wise, who instructed him, among other things, to paint his portrait. Following the elector of Saxony, the Nuremberg patricians also wished to have their own images - at the turn of the century, Dürer worked a lot in the portrait genre. Here Dürer continued the tradition that had developed in the painting of Northern Europe: the model is presented in a three-quarter spread against the backdrop of a landscape, all details are depicted very carefully and realistically.
After the publication of the Apocalypse, Dürer became famous in Europe as a master of engraving, and only during his second stay in Italy received recognition as a painter abroad. In 1505, Jakob Wimpfeling wrote in his German History that Dürer's paintings are valued in Italy "...as highly as the paintings of Parrhasius and Apelles." The works completed after a trip to Venice demonstrate Dürer's success in solving the problems of depicting the human body, including the nude, complex angles, and characters in motion. The Gothic angularity characteristic of his early works disappears. The artist relied on the execution of ambitious pictorial projects, taking orders for multi-figured altarpieces. The works of 1507-1511 are distinguished by a balanced composition, strict symmetry, “some rationality”, and a dry manner of depiction. Unlike his Venetian works, Dürer did not seek to convey the effects of the light-air environment, he worked with local colors, possibly yielding to the conservative tastes of his customers. Accepted by Emperor Maximilian, he received some material independence and, leaving painting for a while, turned to scientific research and engravings.
The formation of the North European self-portrait as an independent genre is associated with the name of Dürer. One of the best portrait painters of his time, he highly valued painting for the fact that it allowed the image of a particular person to be preserved for future generations. Biographers note that, having an attractive appearance, Dürer especially liked to portray himself in his youth and reproduced his appearance not without "a vain desire to please the viewer." A picturesque self-portrait for Durer is a means to emphasize his status and a milestone marking a certain stage in his life. Here he appears as a person who, in terms of intellectual and spiritual development, stands above the level that was determined by his class position, which was uncharacteristic for self-portraits of artists of that era. In addition, he once again affirmed the high importance of fine arts (unfairly, as he believed, excluded from the "seven free arts") at a time when in Germany it was still considered a craft.
About a thousand (Julia Bartrum says about 970) of Durer's drawings have survived: landscapes, portraits, sketches of people, animals and plants. Evidence of how carefully the artist treated the drawing is the fact that even his student works have survived. Durer's graphic heritage, one of the largest in the history of European art, is on a par with the graphics of da Vinci and Rembrandt in terms of volume and significance. Free from the arbitrariness of the customer and his desire for the absolute, which introduced a share of coldness into his paintings, the artist most fully revealed himself as a creator precisely in the drawing.
Dürer tirelessly exercised in layout, generalization of particulars, construction of space. His animalistic and botanical drawings are distinguished by high craftsmanship, observation, fidelity in the transfer of natural forms, characteristic of a natural scientist. Most of them are carefully worked out and are finished works, however, according to the custom of the artists of that time, they served as auxiliary material: Dürer used all his studies in engravings and paintings, repeatedly repeating the motifs of graphic works in large works. At the same time, G. Wölfflin noted that Dürer transferred almost nothing from the truly innovative discoveries he made in landscape watercolors to his paintings.
Durer's graphics are made with different materials, he often used them in combination. He became one of the first German artists to work with white brush on colored paper, popularizing this Italian tradition.
04/10/2017 at 17:26 · pavlofox · 17 840
Albrecht Dürer was born into a large family of a jeweler, he had seventeen brothers and sisters. In the 15th century, the profession of a jeweler was considered very respectful, so the father tried to teach his children the craft that he practiced. But Albrecht's talent for art manifested itself at a fairly early age, and his father did not dissuade him, on the contrary, at the age of 15 he sent his son to the famous Nuremberg master Michael Wolgemut. After 4 years of training with the master, Durer went to travel and at the same time painted his first independent painting, "Portrait of a Father." During the journey, he honed his skills with different masters in different cities. Consider the most famous paintings of Albrecht Dürer recognized by the world community.
This painting by Durer caused a lot of condemnation, both among the artist's contemporaries and modern art critics. It's all about the pose in which the author painted himself and the hidden message conveyed through the details. At the time of the artist in full face or close to it, it was possible to draw only saints. The holly in the artist's hand is a message to the crown of thorns, which was placed on the head of Christ at the crucifixion. The inscription at the top of the canvas reads "My deeds are determined from above", this is a reference to the author's devotion to God, and that all his achievements, at this stage of life, are with the blessing of the Lord. This picture, stored in the Louvre, is estimated as having made certain changes in the human worldview.
With age, Dürer went even further in reflecting his experiences on canvas. For this impudence, his contemporaries severely criticized the artist. On this canvas, he painted his self-portrait in full face. Whereas even more recognized contemporaries could not afford such audacity. In the portrait, the author looks straight ahead and holds his hand in the middle of his chest, which is typical for the reflections of Christ. Detractors found all the similarities in Dürer's painting and reproached him for comparing himself with Christ. Looking at the picture, someone can agree with the critics, and someone can see something more. There are no objects that attract attention in the picture, which makes the viewer focus on the image of a person. Those who have seen the picture consider the gamut of feelings on the face and image of the depicted person.
The portrait, painted in 1505, is considered to be a Venetian-directed work by Dürer. It was during this period that he stayed in Venice for the second time and honed his skills with Giovanni Bellini, with whom he eventually became friends. Who is depicted in the portrait is not known, some suggest that this is a Venetian courtesan. Since there is no information about the artist's marriage, there are no other versions about the person who posed. The painting is kept at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
The painting was commissioned by the patron Dürer for the Church of All Saints in Wittenberg. Because of the relics of some of the ten thousand martyrs in the church. The religious story, familiar to many believers, about the beating of Christian soldiers on Mount Ararat is reflected in all details. In the center of the composition, the author drew himself with a flag on which he wrote the time of writing and the author of the picture. Next to him is a friend of Dürer, the humanist Konrad Celtis, who died without waiting for the painting to be completed.
Durer's most recognizable painting was painted for the San Bartholomew Church in Italy. The artist painted this picture for several years. The picture is saturated with bright colors, as this trend was becoming popular at that time. The painting was named so because of the plot reflected in it, the Dominican monks who used rosaries in their prayers. In the center of the picture is the Virgin Mary with the Christ child in her arms. Surrounded by worshipers, including Pope Julian II and Emperor Maximilian I. Baby - Jesus distributes wreaths of roses to everyone. Dominican friars used a rosary of strictly white and red colors. White symbolizes the joy of the Virgin, red blood of Christ at the crucifixion.
Another very famous painting by Durer was copied many times, printed on postcards, stamps and even coins. The history of the picture is striking in its symbolism. The canvas depicts not just the hand of a pious person, but Dürer's brother. Even in childhood, the brothers agreed to take turns painting, since fame and wealth from this craft does not come immediately and not to everyone, one of the brothers had to ensure the existence of the other. Albrecht was the first to take up painting, and when his brother's turn came, his hands had already lost the habit of painting, he could not write. But Albrecht's brother was a pious and humble man, he was not upset with his brother. These hands are reflected in the picture.
Dürer depicted his patron several times in different paintings, but the portrait of Maximilian the First became one of the world-famous paintings. The emperor is depicted, as befits monarchs, rich robes, a haughty look, and arrogance breathes from the picture. As in other paintings of the artist, there is a kind of symbol. The emperor holds in his hand a pomegranate, a symbol of abundance and immortality. A hint that it is he who provides the people with prosperity and fertility. The grains visible on a peeled piece of pomegranate are a symbol of the versatility of the emperor's personality.
This engraving by Dürer symbolizes a person's path through life. A knight dressed in armor is a man protected by his faith from temptations. Death walking nearby is depicted with an hourglass in his hands, indicating the result at the end of the allotted time. The devil walks behind the knight, depicted as some kind of miserable creature, but ready to pounce on him at the slightest opportunity. It all boils down to the eternal struggle between good and evil, the strength of the spirit before temptations.
The most famous engraving of Durer from his 15 works on the theme of the Biblical Apocalypse. The Four Horsemen are Victor, War, Famine and Death. Hell following them is depicted in the engraving as a beast with its mouth open. As in the legend, the horsemen rush, sweeping away everyone in their path, both poor and rich, and kings and ordinary people. A reference to the fact that everyone gets what they deserve, and everyone will answer for sins.
The picture was painted during the return of Dürer from Italy. The picture intertwines German attention to detail and brilliance, the brightness of colors characteristic of the Italian Renaissance. Attention to lines, mechanical subtleties and details makes reference to the sketch work of Leonardo da Vinci. In this world-famous painting, the scene described in some detail in the Biblical legends, transferred to the canvas in colors, leaves the impression that this is exactly how it happened.
"Feast of All Saints"
(Altar Landauer) 1511,
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
"Christ Among the Scribes" Thyssen-Bornemitz Collection, 1506, Madrid
"Adam and Eve" 1507, Prado, Madrid (the most beautiful image of Adam and Eve!!)
"Self-portrait" 1493
"Self-portrait" 1500
"Madonna with a Pear" 1512, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
"Praying Mary"
The mood of the pre-reformation era, the eve of powerful social and religious battles, Dürer expressed in a series of woodcuts “Apocalypse” (1498), in the artistic language of which the techniques of German late Gothic and Italian Renaissance art organically merged. The second trip to Italy (1505-1507) further strengthened Dürer’s desire for clarity of images, orderliness of compositional constructions (“The Feast of the Rosary”, 1506, National Gallery, Prague; “Portrait of a Young Woman”, Museum of Art, Vienna), a careful study of the proportions of the naked human body (“Adam and Eve”, 1507, Prado, Madrid). At the same time, Dürer did not lose (especially in graphics) the vigilance of observation, subjective expressiveness, vitality and expressiveness of images characteristic of late Gothic art (cycles of woodcuts “Great Passions”, about 1497-1511, “Life of Mary”, about 1502-1511, "Small Passions", 1509-1511). The amazing accuracy of the graphic language, the finest development of light-air relations, the clarity of line and volume, the most complex philosophical underlying basis of the content distinguish three “masterful engravings” on copper: “The Horseman, Death and the Devil” (1513) - an image of unshakable adherence to duty, steadfastness in the face of the trials of fate; as the embodiment of the inner conflict of the restless creative spirit of man; "Saint Jerome" (1514) - the glorification of humanistic inquisitive research thought.
“Melancholy I” (1514)
"Knight, Death and the Devil" 1513
"Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse"
"Feast of the Rosary" 1506, National Gallery, Prague
"Saint Jerome" 1521
By this time, Dürer had won an honorary position in his native Nuremberg, gained fame abroad, especially in Italy and the Netherlands (where he traveled in 1520-1521). Dürer was friends with the most prominent humanists in Europe. Among his customers were wealthy burghers, German princes and Emperor Maximilian I himself, for whom, among other major German artists, he made pen drawings for a prayer book (1515).
In a series of portraits of the 1520s (J. Muffel, 1526, I. Holzschuer, 1526, both in the art gallery, Berlin-Dahlem, etc.), Dürer recreated the type of a man of the Renaissance era, imbued with a proud consciousness of the self-worth of his own personality, charged with intense spiritual energy and practical purposefulness. An interesting self-portrait of Albrecht Dürer at the age of 26 in gloves. The hands of the model lying on the pedestal are a well-known technique for creating the illusion of closeness between the person being portrayed and the viewer. Dürer may have learned this visual trick from works such as Leonard's Mona Lisa, which he saw while traveling in Italy. The landscape that is visible through the open window is a feature characteristic of northern artists such as Jan van Eyck and Robert Campin. Dürer revolutionized Northern European art by combining the experience of Netherlandish and Italian painting. The versatility of aspirations was also manifested in Dürer's theoretical works (“A Guide to Measurement ...”, 1525; “Four Books on Human Proportions”, 1528). Dürer's artistic quest was completed by the painting “The Four Apostles” (1526, Alte Pinakothek, Munich), which embodies four character-temperaments of people connected by a common humanistic ideal of independent thought, willpower, stamina in the struggle for justice and truth.
Ecce Homo (Son of man)
Around 1495, Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe
"Four Apostles"
"Portrait of Father Dürer at 70" 1497
"Adoration of the Magi" 1504
"Emperor Maximilian I" 1519
"Altar of Paumgartner" 1500-1504
"Seven Sorrows of the Maiden" 1497
"Emperors Charles and Sigismund" 1512
"Portrait of a Young Man" ca. 1504
"Portrait of a young Venetian" 1505
"Mary with the Child and Saint Anna" 1519
"Portrait of a woman" 1506
"Portrait of Hieronymus Holtzschuer" 1526
Altar of Yabach, outer side of the left wing "Job suffering humiliation from his wife" Around 1500-1503
"Portrait of an unknown man in a red robe" (St. Sebastian) Around 1499
"Portrait of Oswald Krell" 1499
"Alliance Coat of Arms of the Dure and Holpe Families" 1490
"Portrait of Felicitas Tucher" Diptych, right side 1499
"Portrait of Hans Tucher" Diptych, left side 1499
"Lamentation of Christ"
"Portrait of a man on a green background" 1497
"Portrait of Michael Wolgemuth" 1516
"Apostle Philip" 1516
"Madonna with an Apple" 1526
"Bush of grass" 1503
"Mary with the baby in front of the gate arch" 1494-97
"Portrait of Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony"
"Two Musicians"
"Penitent St. Jerome"
"Madonna with a Goldfinch"
"Portrait of Barbara Durer, nee Holper" 1490-93
"Portrait of Albrecht Dürer" the artist's father 1490-93
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The content of the formidable raging era, its ideological achievements are deeply reflected in the work of Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), the great thinker of Germany. Dürer generalized the realistic quests of his predecessors and contemporaries into an integral system of artistic views and thus laid the foundation for a new stage in the development of German art. The inquisitiveness of the mind, the versatility of interests, striving for the new, the courage of big undertakings, the intensity and breadth of perception of life put him next to the great Italians - Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo. Attraction to the ideal harmonious beauty of the world, the desire to find a way to the knowledge of the rational laws of nature permeate his work.
Excitedly perceiving the turbulent events of our time, Dürer was aware of its inconsistency with classical ideals and created deeply national typical images of the people of his country, full of inner strength and doubt, strong-willed energy and thought. Observing reality, Dürer became convinced that living nature cannot fit into classical formulas. Dürer's work strikes with contrasts. It combines rationality and feeling, craving for the monumental and attachment to details. Living on the verge of two eras, Dürer reflected in his art the tragedy of social crises that ended in the defeat of the peasant war.
Dürer was born in Nuremberg. From an early age in the workshop of his father, a goldsmith, then with the artist Wolgemut and during the years of wandering around the German lands, Dürer absorbed the heritage of German art of the 15th century, but nature became his main teacher. For Dürer, as for Leonardo, art was a form of knowledge. Hence his extraordinary interest in nature, in everything that the artist encountered during his travels. Dürer was the first in Germany to draw a naked body from nature. He created landscape watercolors, depicted animals, draperies, flowers, etc. His impeccably accurate drawings are imbued with a touching and loving attitude to details. Durer studied mathematics, perspective, anatomy, was interested in natural science and the humanities. Twice Dürer traveled to Italy and created a number of scientific treatises (Guide to Measurement, 1525; Four Books on Human Proportions, 1528).
The artist's innovative aspirations manifested themselves during his travels to southern Germany, Switzerland and Venice. Upon returning to Nuremberg, where Dürer founded his workshop, his many-sided activities unfolded. He painted portraits, laid the foundations of the German landscape, transformed traditional biblical and gospel stories, putting new life content into them. Engraving attracted the artist's special attention: first, woodcuts, and then engraving on copper. Dürer expanded the subject of graphics, attracting literary and everyday subjects. Images of peasants, townspeople, burghers, knights, etc. appeared in his engravings. The highest creative achievement of these years is a series of woodcuts of sixteen sheets on the theme of the Apocalypse (1498), popular among the German masses of that time. In this series, Durer intertwined medieval religious views with disturbing moods caused by social events of our time. The terrible scenes of death and punishment described in the Apocalypse acquired topical meaning in pre-revolutionary Germany. Dürer introduced many subtle observations of nature and life into engravings: architecture, costumes, types, landscapes of modern Germany. The breadth of the world, its pathetic perception, the tension of forms and movements, characteristic of Dürer's engravings, were not known to the German art of the 15th century; at the same time, the restless spirit of late German Gothic lives in most of Dürer's sheets. The complexity and complexity of the compositions, the stormy ornamentation of the lines, the dynamism of the rhythms seem to be in tune with the mystical exaltation of the visions of the Apocalypse.
Terrible pathos emanates from the sheet "Four Horsemen". In terms of the all-destroying force of impulse and gloomy expression, this composition has no equal in the German art of that time. Death, judgment, war and pestilence rush furiously over the earth, destroying everything in its path. Sharp gestures, movements, gloomy faces are filled with rage and anger. All nature is in turmoil. Clouds, draperies of clothes, manes of horses flutter violently, tremble, forming a complex rhythmic pattern of calligraphic lines. People of different ages and classes are horrified.
In the sheet “The Battle of the Archangel Michael with the Dragon”, the pathos of a fierce battle is emphasized by the contrasts of light and shadow, the restless intermittent rhythm of the lines. In the heroic image of a young man with an inspired and determined face, in a landscape illuminated by the sun with its boundless expanses, faith in the victory of a bright beginning is expressed. Using the xylography technique familiar to those times, Dürer enhanced its expressiveness by introducing some techniques of engraving on copper. The previously dominant sharp outline of the drawing, weakly filled with parallel hatching, he replaced with a more flexible drawing, filled with either a thickening or thinning line, introduced strokes that fit the shape, applied cross lines that gave deep shadows.
In 1500, a turning point occurred in the work of Dürer. The pathos and drama of the early works were replaced by balance and harmony. The role of a calm narrative, imbued with lyrical experiences, has increased (the cycle "The Life of Mary"). The artist studied proportions, worked on the problem of depicting a naked body. In the engraving on copper "Adam and Eve" (1504), Dürer sought to embody the classical ideal of beauty. The volume of the rounded, almost sculptural form is emphasized by rounded strokes, as it were, sliding across the surface across the structure of the form. The picturesquely interpreted forest landscape organically includes figures of people and animals embodying various symbols.
The same searches are also distinguished by the picturesque "Self-Portrait" (1500, Munich, Alte Pinakothek), where Dürer transforms his image through the prism of the classical ideal, applies the principles of classical composition. At the same time, he is looking for here an expression of deep moral perfection - the traits of a preacher who calls for self-knowledge. The free composition of early self-portraits was replaced by frontal, static, strictly measured proportions, bright colors - muted brownish color. Individual traits are somewhat idealized. But the intense look, the waves of restlessly writhing hair, the nervous gesture of the hand reveal the anxiety of the mood. The Renaissance clarity of ideas about the people of this era coexisted with an excited perception of the world. Acquainted during the second trip to Venice (1506-1507) with the picturesque culture of the Venetians, Durer developed a sense of color, turned to solving the problem of light. With "the highest diligence" he worked in the technique of oil painting, using five or six, and sometimes eight pads on the underpainting, executed in grisaille.
In the two-meter altar composition "The Feast of the Rosary" (1506, Prague, National Gallery), Dürer decided on a religious theme, in essence, as a group portrait of numerous donors of various classes, depicted against the backdrop of a sunny mountain landscape near the throne of Mary. The harmonious balance of the whole, the strict pyramid of figures in the central part bring the composition closer to the works of the High Renaissance. The artist achieved an unusual softness of his pictorial manner, a richness of nuances of color, an impression of the airiness of the environment. In the "Portrait of a Woman" (1506, Berlin, State Museums), Dürer showed mastery of the art of reproducing the finest transitions of light and shade, bringing him closer to the painting of Giorgione. The image attracts with sincerity and richness of psychological shades.
The study of the works of Italian masters led Dürer to overcome the remnants of late Gothic art, but from the ideal classical images, he again turned to highly individual, full of drama. Three master engravings on copper appeared - "Knight, Death and the Devil" (1513), "Saint Jerome" (1514), "Melancholy" (1514), which mark the pinnacle of his work. In traditional plots full of symbols and allusions, Dürer generalized the idea of the humanists of that time about the various aspects of human spiritual activity. The engraving "Saint Jerome" reveals the ideal of a humanist who devoted himself to the comprehension of higher truths. In solving the theme, in everyday interpretation of the scientist's image, the leading role is played by the interior, transformed by the artist into an emotional poetic environment. The figure of Jerome, immersed in translations of sacred books, is the focus of compositional lines that subjugate many everyday details of the interior, protecting the scientist from the unrest and bustle of the world. Jerome's cell is not a gloomy ascetic refuge, but a modest room of a modern house. The everyday intimate democratic interpretation of the image of Jerome is given outside the official church interpretation, perhaps under the influence of the teachings of the reformers. The rays of the sun bursting through the window fill the room with a quivering movement. The elusive play of light and shadow gives life to space, organically connects the forms of objects with it, inspires the environment, creates the impression of comfort. The stable horizontal lines of the composition emphasize the mood of peace.
The engraving "Knight, Death and the Devil" reveals the world of acutely conflicting relations between man and the environment, his understanding of duty and morality. The path of the armored rider is fraught with danger. From the gloomy thicket of the forest, ghosts jump across to him - the devil with a halberd and death with an hourglass, reminding him of the transience of everything earthly, of the dangers and temptations of life. Paying no attention to them, the rider resolutely follows the chosen path. In his stern appearance - the tension of the will, illuminated by the light of reason, the moral beauty of a person, faithful to duty, courageously confronting danger.
The idea of "Melancholia" has not yet been revealed, but the image of a powerful winged woman impresses with its significance and psychological depth. Woven from many semantic nuances, the most complex symbols and allusions, it awakens disturbing thoughts, associations, experiences.
Melancholy is the embodiment of a higher being, a genius endowed with intelligence, possessing all the achievements of human thought of that time, striving to penetrate the secrets of the universe, but obsessed with doubts, anxiety, disappointment and longing that accompany creative searches. Among the numerous objects of the scientist's office and the carpenter's workshop, the winged Melancholia remains inactive. The gloomy cold sky, illuminated by the phosphorescent light of a comet and a rainbow, a bat flying over the bay - a harbinger of twilight and loneliness - enhance the tragedy of the image. But behind the deep thoughtfulness of Melancholia lies an intense creative thought, boldly penetrating the secrets of nature. The expression of the boundless power of the human spirit brings the image of Melancholia closer to the dramatic images of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the tomb of the Medici. "Melancholia" belongs to the number of works that "threw the whole world in amazement" (Vasari).
Dürer's artistic language in copper engravings is subtle and varied. Durer used parallel and cross strokes, dotted lines. Thanks to the introduction of the drypoint technique (engraving "Saint Jerome"), he achieved amazing transparency of shadows, richness of halftone variations and a feeling of vibrating light. By 1515-1518, Durer's experiments in a new, then only emerging etching technique, belong.
A large place in the work of Dürer belongs to portraits, executed in drawing, engraving and painting. The artist emphasized the most essential characteristic features of the model. In the “Portrait of a Mother” (1514, Berlin, State Museums, Engraving Cabinet) executed in charcoal, in an asymmetrical senile face with emaciated features, traces of life's hardships and destruction are imprinted in the eyes. Tense curly expressive lines exacerbate the bright expressiveness of the image. Sketchy, in some places thick and black, in some places a light stroke gives the drawing a dynamic look.
In the 20s of the 16th century, the trends of the formidable and courageous era of the peasant wars and the Reformation became more noticeable in the art of Dürer. In his portraits were people of a mighty spirit, rebellious, aspiring to the future. In their posture - the tension of the cry, in their faces - the excitement of feelings and thoughts. Such are the strong-willed, filled with high spiritual impulses and anxiety, Bernhard von Resten (1521, Dresden, Art Gallery), the energetic Holzschuer (1526, Berlin-Dahlem, Art Gallery), “The Unknown Man in a Black Beret” (1524, Madrid, Prado) with the seal of indomitable passions in power. Durer's creative search was completed by The Four Apostles (1526, Munich, Alte Pinakothek). The images of the apostles: strong-willed, courageous, but gloomy, with an angry look of Paul, phlegmatic, slow Peter, philosophically contemplative, with a spiritualized face of John and excitedly active Mark are sharply individual, full of inner burning. At the same time, they embody the features of the advanced people of the era of the German Peasants' War, which "prophetically indicated the coming class battles." These are civic images of champions of truth. Sonorous color contrasts of clothes - light green, bright red, light blue, white - enhance the expression of images. Closing the mighty, life-size figures, calmly standing within the narrow two-meter doors, the artist achieves spiritual tension, an expression of restrained grandeur. This later work of Dürer surpasses in monumentality everything he had previously done in painting.
Dürer's work determined the leading trend in the art of the German Renaissance. His influence on contemporary artists was great; it penetrated even into Italy, into France. Simultaneously with Dürer and after him, a galaxy of major artists appeared. Among them were Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553), who subtly feels the harmony of nature and man, and Matthias Gotthardt Neithardt, known as Mattpas Grunewald (1475–1528), endowed with great power of imagination, is associated with mystical folk teachings and the Gothic tradition. Dürer's work is imbued with the spirit of rebellion, desperate frenzy or jubilation, high intensity of feelings and painful expression of flashing, then fading, then fading, then flaming color and light.
