Philip Melanchthon

1526

Albrecht Dürer

Associated Names
Albrecht Dürer

Artist, German, 1471 - 1528

This print is a portrait of a man, seen from the chest up, looking to the right. He has pale skin, sharp cheekbones, a prominent brow, a slightly curved nose, lips set in a slight smile, a beard, and a mustache. The man's hair is medium length and appears wavy, with slight recession at the temples. He wears a collared garment under a loose jacket with visible stitching along the edges. The background is mostly blank at the top with some thin vertical lines that faintly suggest a dark sky with clouds. Below the portrait, there is an inscription in Latin along with the number 1526.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to plate): 17.5 × 13.1 cm (6 7/8 × 5 3/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.3552

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Meder, no. 104

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], Jenkintown, PA (Lugt 1760b and Lugt 1932d), 1928; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1929

  • Engravings by Albrecht Durer from the collection of Lessing J. Rosenwald of Philadelphia, Baltimore Museum of Art, 1929, no. 48.

1953

  • Renaissance Portraits, Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA, 1953, no. 67 on checklist.

1956

  • Life and Lives in the Renaissance, Norton Gallery and School of Art, West Palm Beach, FL; and Columbia Museum of Art, SC, 1956, no. 34.

1961

  • Gothic and Renaissance Prints, Colby College Art Museum, Waterville, ME, 1961, no. 20.

1964

  • Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA, 1964, no catalogue.

1967

  • Master Prints on Biblical Themes, Sloan Galleries at Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN, 1967, no cat.

2000

  • The Power of Appearances: Renaissance and Reformation Portrait Prints and Medals, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover; The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Poughkeepsie; Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, 2000-2001.

Bibliography

1932

  • Meder, Joseph. Dürer-Katalog; ein Handbuch über Albrecht Dürers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte, deren Zustände, Ausgaben und Wasserzeichen. Vienna: Verlag Gilhofer und Ranschburg, 1932. Reprint. New York: Da Capo Press, 1971.

2001

  • Schoch, Rainer, Mattihas Mende, and Anna Scherbaum. Albrecht Dürer: Das druckgraphische Werk. Munich, 2001: vol. 1: no. 101.

Inscriptions

in plate, botom: 1526 / VIVENTIS. POTVIT. DVRERIVS. ORA. PHILIPPI / MENTEM. NON. POTVIT. PINGERE. DOCTA / MANVS / AD [artist's monogram] [Dürer could record the details of Philip's appearance from life, but his artist's hand could not grasp his spirit]; verso, lower center, in graphite by a later hand: B105; verso, lower right, in graphite by a later hand: A882; verso, lower left, in graphite by a later hand: 19 [?]; verso, lower left, in graphite by a later hand: Melanchthon [?] [erased]; verso, lower center, in graphite by a later hand: 159; verso, lower center, in graphite by a later hand: EE; verso, lower right, in graphite by a later hand: 636; verso, lower right, in graphite by a later hand: 8003 [upside down]; verso, bottom right, in graphite by a later hand: 16159

Markings

none

Watermarks

small jug (Meder 158)

Wikidata ID

Q64952688

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