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

Russell, F. (1967). The World of Durer: 1471-1528. New York: Time Inc.

Gowing, L. (1983). The Encyclopedia of Visual Art. (Vol. 10.) London: Encyclopedia Britannica International.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Joachim Camerarius, Savior Durer's, God God, Food Painters, Durer Nuremberg, Robe Strieder, Albrecht Durer, True Art, Painter's Manual, Martin Luther's, albrecht durer, creative spirit, strieder 14, russell 89, gowing 56, hutchinson 67, russell 8, exalted mission, exalted mission art, mission art,
Approximate Word count = 1125
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)