Albrecht Durer

A detailed Summary of Albrecht Durer

Artist and Humanist, Albrecht Durer is one of the most significant figures in the history f European art outside Italy during the Renaissance (Gowing 195). Portraying the questioning spirit of the Renaissance, Durer's conviction that he must examine and explore his own situation through capturing the very essence of his role as artist and creator, is reflected in the Self-portrait in a Fur Collared Robe (Strieder 10).

With the portrait, Durer's highly self-conscious approach to his status as an artist coveys his exalted mission of art more clearly than in any other painting. He seems to be "less concerned with himself as a person than with himself as an artist, and less with the artist than with the origin and exalted mission of art itself." (Strieder 13).

In this self-portrait Durer portrays himself in the guise of the Savior. Durer's natural resemblance to Christ has been reverently amplified (Hutchinson 67). His bearded face is grave, and fringed by lustrous shoulder-lenth hair painted in a dark, Christ-like brown (Russell 89. Scholars have called attention to the fact that, the portrait was intended to portray Durer as the "thinking" artist through emphasis on the enlarged eyes and the right hand. Duere's use of

the full-face view and almost hypnotic gaze "emphasizes his belief that the sense of sight is the most noble of the five senses." He wrote in the Introduction to his Painter's Manual, "For the noblest of man's senses is sight... Therefore a thing seen is more believable and long-lasting to us than something we hear" (Hutchison 68).

Symmetrically arranging his serious, handsome face and mass of shoulder length hair deliberately invite comparison with the image of Christ. The idealized arrangement and strict symmetry of the face is based on a construction made up of circle and a triangle, a formula used down to the Byzantine period for images of the Redeemer. The frontal pose and symmetrical composition have recurred in many images of Christ, particularly in the form of the vera icon, or "true image" (Strieder14).

Ironically, the self-portrait did more than preserve his image; it helped foster the popular characterization of Durer as a Christ-like master, aloof and awe-inspiring. Albrecht Durer believed that his artistic mission reflected that of Christ. He felt the artist's creative spirit was God-given, (Russell 89) and saw the ability to create as being innate, "a gift and labor linking man to God" (Gowing 56). Art comes from God, he says. God created all forms of art and "the attainment of true, artistic, and lovely execution in painting is hard to come unto... Whoseoever, therefore, falleth short cannot attain a right understanding for it cometh alone by inspiration from above" (Strieder 14).

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Approximate Word count = 1125
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Arts