Dürer / Artist-Biographies

Pirkheimer wrote to Ulrich, “Although I have been often tried by the death of those who were dear to me, I think I have never until now experienced such sorrow as the loss of our dearest and best Dürer has caused me. And truly not without cause; for, of all men who were not bound to me by ties of blood, I loved and esteemed him the most, on account of his countless merits and rare integrity. As I know, my dear Ulrich, that you share my sorrow, I do not hesitate to allow it free course in your presence, so that we may consecrate together a just tribute of tears to our dear friend. He has gone from us, our Albert! Let us weep, my dear Ulrich, over the inexorable fate, the miserable lot of man, and the unfeeling cruelty of death. A noble man is snatched away, whilst so many others, worthless and incapable men, enjoy unclouded happiness, and have their years prolonged beyond the ordinary term of man’s life.”

Pirkheimer died two years after Dürer’s death, and was buried near him. During his last days, and therefore so long after his friend’s decease that the first violence of his emotions had fully subsided, and his mind had become calm, he wrote to Herr Tschertte of Vienna, and gave the following arraignment of the widow Dürer: “Truly I lost in Albert the best friend I ever had in the world, and nothing grieves me so much as to think that he died such an unhappy death; for after the providence of God I can ascribe it to no one but his wife, who so gnawed at his heart, and worried him to such a degree, that he departed from this world sooner than he would otherwise have done. He was dried up like a bundle of straw, and never dared to be in good spirits, or to go out into society. For this bad woman was always anxious, although really she had no cause to be; and she urged him on day and night, and forced him to hard work only for this,—that he might earn money, and leave it to her when he died. For she always feared ruin, as she does still, notwithstanding that Albert has left her property worth about six thousand gulden. But nothing ever satisfied her; and in short she alone was the cause of his death. I have often myself expostulated with her about her suspicious, blameworthy conduct, and have warned her, and told her beforehand what the end of it would be; but I have never met with any thing but ingratitude. For whoever was a friend of her husband’s, and wished him well, to him she was an enemy; which troubled Albert to the highest degree, and brought him at last to his grave. I have not seen her since his death: she will have nothing to do with me, although I have been helpful to her in many things; but one cannot trust her. She is always suspicious of anybody who contradicts her, or does not take her part in all things, and is immediately an enemy. Therefore I would much rather she should keep away from me. She and her sister are not loose characters, but, as I do not doubt, honorable, pious, and very God-fearing women; but one would rather have to do with a light woman who behaved in a friendly manner, than with such a nagging, suspicious, scolding, pious woman, with whom a man can have no peace day or night. We must, however, leave the matter to God, who will be gracious and merciful to our good Albert, for he lived a pious and upright man, and died in a very Christian and blessed manner; therefore we need not fear his salvation. God grant us grace, that we may happily follow him when our time comes!”

It is said that Raphael, after studying Dürer’s engravings, exclaimed, “Of a truth this man would have surpassed us all if he had had the masterpieces of art constantly before his eyes as we have.” Even so at the present day is it seen, that if Dürer had studied classic art, and imbibed its principles, he might have added a rare beauty to the weird ugliness and solemnity of his designs, and substituted the sweet Graces for the grim Walkyrie. Yet in that case the world would have lost the fascinations of the sad and profound Nuremberg pictures, with their terrific realism and fantastic richness.

Italy did not disdain to borrow the ideas of the transalpine artist; and even Raphael took the design of his famous picture of “The Entombment” (Lo Spasimo) from Dürer’s picture in “The Great Passion.” Titian borrowed from his “Life of the Virgin” the figure of an old woman, which he introduced in his “Presentation in the Temple.” The Florentine Pontormo copied a whole landscape from one of Dürer’s paintings; and Andrea del Sarto received many direct suggestions from his works.

In the preface to his Latin translation of “The Four Books of Human Proportion,” the Rector Camerarius says: “Nature gave our Albert a form remarkable for proportion and height, and well suited to the beautiful spirit which it held therein; so that in his case she was not unmindful of the harmony which Hippocrates loves to dwell upon, whereby she assigns a grotesque body to the grotesquely-spirited ape, while she enshrines the noble soul in a befitting temple. He had a graceful hand, brilliant eyes, a nose well-formed, such as the Greeks call Τετράγωνον, the neck a little long, chest full, stomach flat, hips well-knit, and legs straight. As to his fingers, you would have said that you never saw any thing more graceful. Such, moreover, was the charm of his language, that listeners were always sorry when he had finished speaking.

“He did not devote himself to the study of literature, though he was in a great measure master of what it conveys, especially of natural science and mathematics. He was well acquainted with the principal facts of these sciences, and could apply them as well as set them forth in words: witness his treatises on geometry, in which there is nothing to be desired that I can find, at least so far as he has undertaken to treat the subject.... But Nature had especially designed him for painting, which study he embraced with all his might, and was never tired of considering the works and methods of celebrated painters, and learning from them all that commended itself to him.... If he had a fault it was this: that he worked with too untiring industry, and practised a degree of severity towards himself that he often carried beyond bounds.”

A LIST OF

ALBERT DÜRER’S CHIEF PAINTINGS

NOW IN EXISTENCE, WITH THE DATES OF THEIR EXECUTION,
AND THEIR PRESENT LOCATIONS.

^*_*^*The interrogation-mark is annexed to the titles of certain paintings which two or more critics regard as of doubtful authenticity.

GERMANY.

Nuremberg.—Germanic Museum,—Emperor Maximilian; Burgomaster Holzschuher, 1526. St. Maurice Gallery,—Pietà; Ecce Homo. Rath-Haus,—Emperor Sigismund(?); Charlemagne(?).

Munich Pinakothek.—Baumgärtner Altar-piece, 1513; Suicide of Lucretia, 1518; Albert Dürer, 1500; Oswald Krell, 1499; Michael Wohlgemuth, 1516; Albert Dürer the Elder, 1497; the Nativity; Sts. Paul and Mark, 1526; Sts. Peter and John, 1526; a Knight in Armor(?); Sts. Joachim and Joseph, 1523; St. Simeon and Bishop Lazarus, 1523; Death of the Virgin; a Young Man, 1500; Pietà(?); Mater Dolorosa.

Dresden Museum.—Christ Bearing the Cross; the Crucifixion; a Hare; Lucas van Leyden; Madonna and Saints (?).

Cologne.—Museum,—Drummer and Piper; Madonna (?). Church of Sta. Maria im Capitol,—Death of the Virgin.

Frankfort.—Municipal Gallery,—Two portraits. Städel Institute,—Catherine Fürleger; Albert Dürer the Elder.

Cassel.—Friedrich Museum,—The Passion. Bellevue,—Erasmus of Rotterdam.

Pommersfelden.—Jacob Müffel.

Lustschena (Baron Speck).—A Young Lady.

Aschaffenburg.—Albert Dürer.

Augsburg.—Two Masques. Several others in the Castle of Stolzenfels.

AUSTRIA.

Vienna.—Belvedere,—Emperor Maximilian, 1519; Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand Christians, 1508; Madonna, 1506; Adoration of the Magi, 1504; Madonna, 1503; Adoration of the Holy Trinity, 1511; Madonna; Young Man, 1507; Johann Kleeberger, 1526; and others not definitely authenticated. The Albertina,—Emperor Maximilian, Green Passion, and 160 drawings. Czernin Palace,—Portrait. The old Ambraser, Lichtenstein, and Von Lamberg collections included four portraits and two religious pictures. St. Wolfgang’s Church, Upper Austria,—Death of the Virgin.

Pesth.—Christ on the Cross.

Prague.—Strahow Abbey,—The Feast of Rose Garlands.

NORTHERN EUROPE.

St. Petersburg.—Hermitage Palace,—Christ Led to Calvary; Christ Bearing the Cross; the Elector of Saxony.

Hague Museum.—Two portraits.

Belœil (Prince de Ligne),—Two pictures.

Basle Museum (Switzerland).—Two pictures.

Coire Cathedral,—Christ Bearing the Cross.

ITALY.

Florence.—Uffizi Gallery,—Adoration of the Magi, 1504; Madonna, 1526; Dürer’s Father, 1490; Apostle Philip, 1516; St. James the Great, 1516; Albert Dürer, 1498; Ecce Homo (?); Nativity (?); Pietà (?). Pitti Palace,—Adam and Eve (replica).

Rome.—Barberini Palace,—Christ among the Doctors, 1506. Borghese Palace,—Louis VI. of Bavaria; Pirkheimer, 1505; and five pictures of dubious authenticity. Corsini Palace,—A Hare; Cardinal Albert of Brandenburg. Doria Palace,—St. Eustace (?); Ecce Homo (?). Sciarra-Colonna Palace,—Death of the Virgin.

Milan.—Casa Trivulzi,—Ecce Homo, 1514. Ambrosiana,—Coronation of the Virgin, 1510. Bergamo Academy,—Christ Bearing the Cross. Brescia Gallery,—Drawings.

Venice.—Manfrini Palace,—Adoration of the Shepherds; Holy Family.

Naples.—Santangelo,—Garland-Bearer, 1508. Museum,—Nativity, 1512. Villafranca Palace,—Christ on the Cross.

SPAIN.

Madrid.—Museum,—Albert Dürer, 1498; Dürer’s Father; Adam and Eve. Marquis of Salamanca,—Altar-piece, a Passion scene.

FRANCE.

Besançon Museum,—Christ on the Cross. Lyons,—Madonna and Child Giving Roses to Maximilian (?).

GREAT BRITAIN.

National Gallery,—A Senator, 1514. Stafford House, Death of the Virgin. Hampton-Court Palace,—Young Man, 1506; St. Jerome (?). Buckingham Palace,—Virgin and Child. Rev. J. F. Russell,—Crucifixion; Christ’s Farewell to Mary (?). Thirlestaine House,—Maximilian. Kensington Palace,—Young Man. New Battle House,—Madonna and Angels. Belvoir Castle,—Portrait. Sion House,—Dürer’s Father. Mr. Wynn Ellis, London,—Catherine Fürleger; Virgin and Child. FitzWilliam Museum, Cambridge,—Annunciation (?). Windsor Castle,—Pirkheimer. Bath House,—Man in Armor. Howard Castle,—Vulcan; Adam and Eve; Abraham and Isaac.

^*_*^*The latest of the lists of Dürer’s paintings, compiled by Mr. W. B. Scott in 1870, enumerates the following collections, long since dispersed, with the dates when they were cataloged: 11 pictures at Aix, in 1822; 2 at Anspach, 1816; 5 at Augsburg, 1822; 10 at Bamberg, 1821; 2 at Banz, 1814; 4 at Berlin, 1822; 3 at Blankenberg, 1817; 3 at Bologna, 1730; 3 at Breslau, 1741; 6 at Brussels, 1811. Many of these cannot now be located, the collections having been broken up.

A LIST OF

DÜRER’S WOOD ENGRAVINGS.

Bible Subjects.—Cain Killing Abel; Samson Slaying the Lion; Adoration of the Magi, 1511; the Last Supper, 1523; the Mount of Olives; Pilate Showing Christ to the Jews; the Sudarium; Ecce Homo; the Crucifixion, 1510; the Crucifixion, 1516; Calvary; the Crucifixion; Christ on the Cross, with Angels; the Trinity, 1511; the Holy Family, 1511; the Holy Family with a Guitar, 1511; the Holy Family, 1526; the Holy Family in a Chamber; the Virgin with the Swaddled Child; the Virgin Crowned by Angels, 1518; the Holy Family with Three Rabbits.

Saints.—St. Arnolf, Bishop; St. Christopher, 1511; St. Christopher with the Birds; St. Christopher, 1525; St. Colman of Scotland, 1513; St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata; St. George; the Mass of St. Gregory, 1511; St. Jerome in a Chamber, 1511; St. Jerome in the Grotto, 1512; the Little St. Jerome; the Beheading of St. John the Baptist; the Head of St. John brought to Herod, 1511; St. Sebald; the Penitent; Elias and the Raven; Sts. John and Jerome; Sts. Nicholas, Udalricus, and Erasmus; Sts. Stephen, Gregory, and Lawrence; the Eight Austrian Saints; the Martyrdom of Ten Thousand Christians; the Beheading of St. Catherine; St. Mary Magdalen.

Portraits.—The Emperor Maximilian, 1519; the Emperor; Ulrich Varnbühler, 1522; Albert Dürer, 1527.

Heraldic Subjects.—The Beham Arms; the Dürer Arms, 1523; the Ebner-Furer Arms, 1516; the Kressen Arms; the Shield of Nuremberg; the Shield with three Lions’ Heads; the Shield with a Wild Man and two Dogs; the Scheurl-Zuiglin Arms; the Stabius Arms; the Staiber Arms.

Miscellaneous Subjects.—The Judgment of Paris; Hercules; the Rider; the Bath; the Embrace; the Learner, 1510; Death and the Soldier, 1510; the Besieged City, 1527; the Rhinoceros, 1515; the Triumphal Chariot of Maximilian, 1522; the Great Column, 1517; a Man Sketching; two Men Sketching a Lute; a Man Sketching a Woman; a Man Sketching an Urn; Hemispherium Australe; Imagines Cœli Septentrionalis; Imagines Cœli Meridionalis; the Pirkheimer Title-border; six Ornamental designs; two title-borders.

The Great Passion (12 cuts; 1510).—Ecce Homo; the Last Supper; the Agony in the Garden; the Seizing of Christ; the Flagellation; the Mocking; Bearing the Cross; the Crucifixion; Christ in Hades; the Wailing Maries; the Entombment; the Resurrection.

The Little Passion (37 cuts; 1511).—Ecce Homo; Adam and Eve; the Expulsion from Eden; the Annunciation; the Nativity; the Entry into Jerusalem; the Cleansing of the Temple; Christ’s Farewell to His Mother; the Last Supper; the Washing of the Feet; the Agony in the Garden; the Kiss of Judas; Christ before Annas; Caiaphas Rends his Clothes; the Mocking; Christ and Pilate; Christ before Herod; the Scourging; the Crowning with Thorns; Christ Shown to the Jews; Pilate Washing his Hands; Bearing the Cross; the Veronica; Nailing Christ to the Cross; the Crucifixion; Descent into Hell; the Descent from the Cross; the Weeping Maries; the Entombment; the Resurrection; Christ in Glory Appearing to His Mother; Appearing to Mary Magdalen; at Emmaus; the Unbelief of St. Thomas; the Ascension; the Descent of the Holy Ghost; the Last Judgment.

The Life of the Virgin (20 designs; 1511).—The Virgin and Child; Joachim’s Offering Rejected; the Angel Appears to Joachim; Joachim Meeting Anna; the Birth of Mary; the Virgin’s Presentation at the Temple; the Betrothal of Mary and Joseph; the Annunciation; the Visitation of St. Elizabeth; the Nativity; the Circumcision; the Purification of Mary; the Flight into Egypt; the Repose in Egypt; Christ Teaching in the Temple; Christ’s Farewell to His Mother; the Death of the Virgin; the Assumption; the Virgin and Child with seven Saints.

The Apocalypse of St. John (16 designs; 1498).—The Virgin and Child Appearing to St. John; His Attempted Martyrdom; the Seven Golden Candlesticks and the Seven Stars; the Throne of God with the Four-and-twenty Elders and the Beasts; the Descent of the Four Horses; the Martyrs Clothed in White and the Stars Falling; the Four Angels Holding the Winds, and the Sealing of the Elect; the Seven Angel Trumpeters and the Glorified Host of Saints; the Four Angels Slaying the Third Part of Men; John is Made to Eat the Book; the Woman Clothed with the Sun, and the Seven-headed Dragon; Michael and his Angels Fighting the Great Dragon; the Worship of the Seven-headed Dragon; the Lamb in Zion; the Woman of Babylon Sitting on the Beast; the Binding of Satan for a Thousand Years.

There are 261 other wood-engravings described in the catalogue attached to Scott’s “Life of Dürer,” and ranked as “doubtful.” Many of these are held to be authentic by one or more of the three critical authorities on Dürer’s works,—Heller, Bartsch, and Passavant. Other connoisseurs, however, ascribe them to different engravers of the early German schools, mostly to pupils and colleagues of Dürer.

ENGRAVINGS ON COPPER.

Bible-Subjects.—Adam and Eve, 1504; the Nativity, 1504; the Passion on copper (16 designs), 1508-13; Crucifixion, 1508, 1511; Little Crucifixion, 1513; Christ Showing His Five Wounds; Angel with the Sudarium, 1516; two Angels with the Sudarium, 1513; the Prodigal Son, 1500; the Virgin and Anna; Mary on the Crescent Moon, no date; Mary on the Crescent Moon, 1514; Mary with a Crown of Stars, 1508; Mary with the Starry Crown and Sceptre, 1516; Mary Crowned by an Angel, 1520; Mary Crowned by two Angels, 1518; the Nursing Mary, 1503; the Nursing Mary, 1519; Mary with the Swaddled Child, 1520; Mary under a Tree, 1513; Mary by the Well, 1514; Mary with the Pear, 1511; Mary with the Monkey, no date; the Holy Family with the Butterfly, early work.

Saints.—St. Philip; St. Bartholomew, 1523; St. Thomas, 1514; St. Simon, 1514; St. Paul, 1514; St. Anthony, 1519; St. Christopher, 1521; St. Christopher, second design; St. John Chrysostom; St. Eustace, no date; St. George; Equestrian St. George, 1508; St. Jerome, 1514; St. Jerome Praying; the same, smaller, 1513; St. Sebastian; St. Sebastian Bound to a Pillar.

Miscellaneous.—The Judgment of Paris, 1513; Apollo and Diana; the Rape of Amymone; Jealousy; the Satyr’s Family, 1505; Justice; the Little Fortune; the Great Fortune; Melencolia, 1514; the Dream; the Four Naked Women, 1497; the Witch; Three Cupids; Gentleman and Lady Walking; the Love Offer; the Wild Man Seizing a Woman, early work; the Bagpiper, 1514; the Dancing Rustics, 1514; the Peasant and his Wife; Peasant Going to Market; Three Peasants; the Cook and the Housekeeper; the Turk and his Wife; the Standard-bearer; the Six Soldiers; the Little Courier; the Equestrian Lady; the Great White Horse, 1505; the Small White Horse, 1505; the Knight, Death, and the Devil, 1513; the Monster Pig; the Coat-of-arms with the Cock, 1514; the Coat-of-arms and Death’s Head, 1503.

Portraits.—The Cardinal-Archbishop Albert of Mayence, 1519, 1522; larger portrait of the same; Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, 1524; Erasmus of Rotterdam, 1526; Philip Melanchthon, 1526; Willibald Pirkheimer, 1524.

Etchings.—Christ with Bound Hands, 1512; Ecce Homo, 1515; Christ on the Mount of Olives, 1515; the Holy Family; St. Jerome; Pluto and Proserpine; the Bath; the Cannon.

INDEX.

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Transcriber's Note:

Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters’ errors; otherwise every effort has been made to remain true to the author’s words and intent.