Albrecht Dürer

German, 1471 - 1528

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The artwork is a circular medallion featuring a profile portrait of a figure, identified as Charles V, depicted in relief. The subject is wearing a crown and a decorated garment. The medallion is made of metal, likely silver, with a polished finish. Surrounding the central portrait is a band adorned with various heraldic shields, each engraved. The inscription "CAROLVS V. RO IMPER" is visible alongside the portrait.
Albrecht Dürer, Hans Krafft the Elder, Charles V, 1500-1558, King of Spain 1516-1556, Holy Roman Emperor 1519 [obverse], 1521, silver, Gift of Drs. Yvonne and A. Peter Weiss, 2013.160.1.a

Charles V, 1500-1558, King of Spain 1516-1556, Holy Roman Emperor 1519 [obverse]

Albrecht Dürer, Hans Krafft the Elder · 1521 · silver ·  Accession ID  2013.160.1.a
The sculpture is a round, coin-like object featuring a central design of a double-headed eagle with detailed plumage and intricate patterns. Above and between the eagle heads, the numbers "15" and "21" are displayed. The eagle holds a small shield-like emblem on its chest. Surrounding the central motif is a border of various symbols and heraldic emblems, each housed in separate compartments around the edge of the piece. The composition is rendered in a metallic silver color. The sculpture is flat and circular, with a textured surface that provides depth to the central eagle design and the bordering symbols.
Albrecht Dürer, Hans Krafft the Elder, Coat of Arms on a Double-headed Eagle [reverse], 1521, silver, Gift of Drs. Yvonne and A. Peter Weiss, 2013.160.1.b

Coat of Arms on a Double-headed Eagle [reverse]

Albrecht Dürer, Hans Krafft the Elder · 1521 · silver ·  Accession ID  2013.160.1.b
Shown from the chest up, a pale-skinned, clean-shaven man looks off to our left against a moss-green background in this vertical portrait painting. The man’s shoulders and face are angled to our left, and he looks up and in that direction with silvery-blue eyes under flat, thin brows. The end of his short nose is slightly flattened, and his thin, pale pink lips are pressed together in an uneven line. He has the suggestion of a cleft chin set in a square jaw. Auburn-brown, wavy, chin-length hair and bangs frame his face under a black floppy cap. His dark garment has a high neck and falls in vertical folds down his chest. The earthy green background darkens around the edges. The artist signed and dated the painting, 1516, near the top right corner with a monogram of a capital letter D tucked between the wide, long legs of a capital A.
Albrecht Dürer, Portrait of a Clergyman (Johann Dorsch?), 1516, oil on parchment on fabric, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.2.17

Portrait of a Clergyman (Johann Dorsch?)

Albrecht Dürer · 1516 · oil on parchment on fabric ·  Accession ID  1952.2.17
Shown from the hips up in a room on the far side of a ledge, a young woman props up a naked baby so he stands on a cushion in this vertical painting. The woman’s left hand, to our right, supports the baby’s neck, and her other hand holds him upright. Both have pale skin tinged with pink and shaded with cool gray, and they face us at the center of the composition. The woman wears a royal-blue hooded garment that comes low over her forehead. Light blond curls catch the light under her hood, near her left cheek, to our right. She looks into the distance, as if over our right shoulder, with unfocused, pale brown eyes. She has a straight yet soft nose, flushed cheeks, closed pink lips, and a slight double chin. The nude baby has blond hair and blue eyes. His torso and limbs have the rolls and dimples of a toddler, and the woman’s hands press gently into the flesh. One of his elbows hooks up over the woman’s shoulder, next to his head. He points at the woman with his middle finger near her high neckline. The other arm, to our right, hangs by his side and he holds a piece of green and red fruit, possibly an apple. The child stands on one foot on the green cushion, which has red tassels. The pine-green pillow has sea glass-green highlights, suggesting a sheen or texture. His other foot rests against that standing calf, toes splayed. The wall behind the pair is marbled with green or red against tan, and a bright, scarlet-red cloth hangs behind the woman. A window on the back wall opens onto a landscape to our left. There, a plain of green grass is interrupted by a winding pathway, which leads to a walled fortification and gate. Beyond the gate are trees and mountains, hazy green and blue in the deep distance. Thick white clouds drift across the bright blue sky above. A sliver of a window in the upper right corner next to the baby has round, bull’s eye glass. In the lower corners of the painting are two heraldic coats of arms. The shield-shaped symbol to our left is of a knight’s helmet with red and white scrolls and vines. In the lower right corner a miniature man kneels behind a shield and holds a long cylindrical object.
Albrecht Dürer, Madonna and Child [obverse], c. 1496/1499, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.2.16.a

Madonna and Child [obverse]

Albrecht Dürer · c. 1496/1499 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.2.16.a
A man and two women walk on a dirt path through a verdant landscape, carrying packs, walking sticks, and other provisions, while in the distance fiery explosions spew flames and plumes of smoke sky-high in this horizontal painting. The people all have pale skin, and the women’s blond hair is bound up. Close to us and at the bottom center of the composition, the man and women walk to our right with their eyes cast down. The man walks at the front of the line, holding a stick with a canteen dangling from a cord over his right shoulder. In other left hand, he carries a basket filled with shiny silver disks. The man has wrinkled skin and a long gray beard. He wears a royal-blue coat lined with white fur over a brown tunic, black tights, and gray shoes. His head is wrapped in a turban with yellow coils beneath a purple and green split crown. The two women walk side-by-side behind the man. The woman farther from us holds two sticks in her left hand. A sack is looped over one stick that rests back across her shoulder. The other staff is vertical and is topped a skein of yarn with a spool. She holds a small saffron-orange chest with a silver handle and lock by her side with her right hand. She wears a long, voluminous, amethyst-purple dress bunched up in front to show a forest-green skirt underneath and three silver keys hanging at her knees. The second woman balances a lapis-blue, bulbous pack on her head with one hand. She wears a red dress with a high, white collar. She lifts the red skirt with her other hand to show a royal-blue skirt underneath. The path is lined with plants and a few rocks to each side. The land rises to steep, rocky outcroppings lined with trees. The shadowy form of a person walks away from us on the path where it winds back to the cliffs. The land dips down to a body of water in the near distance beyond the path. Lemon-yellow and crimson-red flames rise out of a town along the water’s edge in the distance. Streaks of black, rose-pink, and slate-blue smoke billow into the air. Another town burns along the horizon, which comes two-thirds of the way up the composition. The artist signed the work with his initials as if he had painted a rock face next to the path to our left, “AD” in a monogram.
Albrecht Dürer, Lot and His Daughters [reverse], c. 1496/1499, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.2.16.b

Lot and His Daughters [reverse]

Albrecht Dürer · c. 1496/1499 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.2.16.b
This drawing depicts figures representing virtues and vices in an allegorical scene. The central figures are labeled 'Gerechtigkeit' (Justice), 'Warhatt' (Truth), and 'Vernunft' (Reason). Justice holds a sword, while another authoritative figure on the right holds a rod and sits on a throne-like chair labeled 'Ich bin die frucht'. An infant is depicted in a cradle below this figure. The artwork includes symbolic characters and text elements in a style similar to woodcut illustrations from the late medieval or early Renaissance period.
Albrecht Dürer, Justice, Truth and Reason in the Stocks with the Seated Judge and Sleeping Piety, probably 1526, woodcut on laid paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1943.3.3689

Justice, Truth and Reason in the Stocks with the Seated Judge and Sleeping Piety

Albrecht Dürer · probably 1526 · woodcut on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1943.3.3689
A clump of leaves with a few stems of tall, yellow blossoms are painted on a vertical sheet of tan-colored parchment. The leaves are long and rounded, with prominent, textured veining. A few blades of grass and sprigs of clover are interspersed among the dense clump of leaves. The cowslip blossoms are clusters of bell-shaped yellow petals at the end of a starburst-like formations of pale green tubes. The ground is painted an earthy gray, and the background is left blank. The artist dated the work, 1526, in the lower right corner over a monogram of his initials, AD.
Albrecht Dürer, Tuft of Cowslips, 1526, gouache on parchment, The Armand Hammer Collection, 1991.217.1

Tuft of Cowslips

Albrecht Dürer · 1526 · gouache on parchment ·  Accession ID  1991.217.1
The image shows three individuals in a medieval woodcut style. The person on the left is standing upright, facing slightly left, and holding a long, curved ribbon-like object. They have a prominent nose, thin angular facial features, and wear a tall pointed hat. They are dressed in long robes with wide sleeves. The second person is standing but turned slightly to the right, appearing stockier with a round face and a prominent chin, wearing a hat with a bent brim. They hold a book with an 'X' on its spine. The third figure stands to the far right, facing the viewer with long hair and an extensive beard in a sunburst pattern. They wear a robe and carry a cross. The scene has minimal background elements, with flowing banners containing text above each person in gothic style script.
Albrecht Dürer, The Teacher, the Clergyman, and Providence, probably 1526, woodcut on laid paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1951.10.21

The Teacher, the Clergyman, and Providence

Albrecht Dürer · probably 1526 · woodcut on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1951.10.21
Created with fine black lines printed on cream-white paper, this vertical engraving shows a man facing our left, wearing a cap and voluminous robe as he writes on a sheet of paper. Closest to us and along the bottom edge of the composition, a table or shelf is spread with several books, some upright, some on their sides, and one thick tome laid open. The open book has writing on the pages, but the words are not legible. Beyond the books, the man is shown from the waist up with his body angled to our left. A few curls peek out from the soft, rounded cap that covers his head down to his neck and his forehead, and nearly reaches the top edge of the paper. His face and jowls are deeply lined, and he has deep-set eyes, a long, sloped nose, and his lips are closed. His robe rides high on his shoulders and around his neck, parting at the throat to show a high-collared garment beneath. He gazes down at his hands, which rest on the paper on which he writes. One thick-fingered hand holds the inkwell and the other the pen. The paper and a book underneath it rest on a lectern that angles up toward the writer. The lectern sits on a desk that also holds a short urn with a small bunch of leaves and flowers at the front corner closest to us. Two packets or pieces of folded paper sit next to the lectern. Densely spaced, fine lines create dark shadows in the deep folds of the man’s garments and on the wall behind him. A panel on the wall behind the man reads, in Latin, “IMAGO ERASMI ROTERODA MI AB ALBERTO DVRERO AD VIVAM EFFIGIEM DELINIATA,” which is followed by a Greek inscription, and then, “MDXXXVI.” The artist signed the work with his monogram, consisting of an upper case D straddled by the legs of a wide, upper case A at the bottom center of the panel.
Albrecht Dürer, Erasmus of Rotterdam, 1526, engraving on laid paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1943.3.3554

Erasmus of Rotterdam

Albrecht Dürer · 1526 · engraving on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1943.3.3554
The artwork is a horizontal, monochrome woodcut featuring a scene. On the left, a large wheel labeled with text is being turned by a fox standing upright. Animals, including a bird, are positioned on the wheel, each associated with specific words. Adjacent to the wheel, a female figure stands facing forward, her hands clasped at her waist, dressed in a long, flowing gown. To the right, a procession of human figures of various social ranks is depicted, each distinct in attire and posture. The figures include a peasant with a tool, an elderly man, and several others in elaborate clothing, including a soldier with armor and a halberd. The background is unadorned, focusing attention on the figures and the wheel.
Albrecht Dürer, Time and a Fox Turning the Wheel of Fortune with People of all Ranks to the Right, probably 1526, woodcut on laid paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1951.10.22

Time and a Fox Turning the Wheel of Fortune with People of all Ranks to the Right

Albrecht Dürer · probably 1526 · woodcut on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1951.10.22

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Printed with black lines on cream-white paper, a rhinoceros facing our right in profile fills this horizontal woodcut. The rhinoceros’s horn touches the border to the right and its hindquarters the left. Its left foot, farther from us, stands slightly ahead of its right hoof. Its front feet are close together and its head is lowered. Chunky, armor-like plates covering its body are patterned in some areas, especially on its legs and belly, with rings and dots, creating a mottled effect. The skin on its legs is scaly like a fish or reptile. A short, twisted, unicorn-like horn grows from between its shoulders, and the animal’s lower lip and the ear we see is fuzzy with short hairs. Near the upper right, in the corner near the animal's shoulders, the print is inscribed, “1515 RHINOCERVS.” Below, the artist’s initials appear as a monogram, with an upper case D tucked within the legs of an A. Five rows of tightly spaced German writing runs across the top edge of the paper, above the single-line border framing the animal. It reads, "Nach Christus gepurt. 1513. Jar. Adi. 1. May. Hat man dem groszmechtigen Kunig von Portugall Emanuell gen Lysabona pracht ausz India ein sollich lebendig Thier. Das nennen sie Rhinocerus. Das ist hye mit aller seiner gestalt Abconderfet. Es hat ein farb wie ein gespreckelte Schildtkrot. Und ist von dicken Schalen uberlegt fast fest. Und ist in der grösz als der Helfandt Aber nydertrechtiger von paynen und fast werhafftig. Es hat ein scharff starck Horn vorn auff der nasen Das Begyndt es albeg zu werzen wo es Bey staynen ist. Das dosig Thier ist des Helffantz todt feyndt. Der Helffandt furcht es fast ubel dann wo es In ankumbt so laufft Im das Thier mit dem kopff zwischen dye fordern payn und reyst den Helffandt unden am pauch auff un erwürgt In des mag er sich nit erwern. Dann das Thier ist also gewapent das Im der Helffandt nichts kan thun. Sie sagen auch das der Rhynocerus Schnell Fraydig und Listig sey."

Interactive Article:  Horns, Scales, and Armor

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Bibliography

1943

  • Panofsky, Erwin. _Albrecht Dürer _. 2 vols. Princeton, (1943).

1971

  • Mende, Matthias. Dürer-Bibliographie. Wiesbaden, 1971.

  • Anzelewsky, Fedja. Albrecht Dürer Das malerische Werk. Berlin, 1971.

1982

  • Anzelewsky, Fedja. Dürer. His Art and Life. Translated by Heide Grieve. London, 1982.

1993

  • Hand, John Oliver, with the assistance of Sally E. Mansfield. German Paintings of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1993: 49-51.