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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/32787-8.txt b/32787-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b8d8d0e --- /dev/null +++ b/32787-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3691 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Durer, by M. F. Sweetser + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Durer + Artist-Biographies + +Author: M. F. Sweetser + +Release Date: June 13, 2010 [EBook #32787] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DURER *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander, Juliet Sutherland and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + _ARTIST-BIOGRAPHIES._ + + DÜRER. + + BOSTON: + HOUGHTON, OSGOOD, AND COMPANY. + + The Riverside Press, Cambridge. + + 1879. + + + + + COPYRIGHT. + BY JAMES R. OSGOOD & CO. + 1877. + + FRANKLIN PRESS: + RAND, AVERY, AND COMPANY, + BOSTON. + + + + +ARTIST-BIOGRAPHIES. + +PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT. + + +The growth of a popular interest in art and its history has been very +rapid during the last decade of American life, and is still in +progress. This interest is especially directed towards the lives of +artists themselves; and a general demand exists for a uniform series +of biographies of those most eminent, which shall possess the +qualities of reliability, compactness, and cheapness. + +To answer this demand the present series has been projected. The +publishers have intrusted its preparation to Mr. M. F. Sweetser, whose +qualities of thoroughness in research and fidelity in statement have +been proved in other fields of authorship. It is believed that by the +omission of much critical and discursive matter commonly found in art +biographies, an account of an artist's life may be presented, which is +at once truthful and attractive, within the limits prescribed for +these volumes. + +The series will be published at the rate of one or two volumes each +month, at 50 cents each volume, and will contain the lives of the most +famous artists of mediæval and modern times. It will include the lives +of many of the following:-- + + Raphael, Claude, Van Dyck, + Michael Angelo, Poussin, Gainsborough, + Leonardo da Vinci, Delacroix, Reynolds, + Titian, Delaroche, Wilkie, + Tintoretto, Greuze, Lawrence, + Paul Veronese, Dürer, Landseer, + Guido, Rubens, Turner, + Murillo, Rembrandt, West, + Velasquez, Holbein, Copley, + Salvator Rosa, Teniers, Allston. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +This little volume presents an account of the life of one of the +noblest and most versatile artists of Germany, with a passing glance +at the activities of Northern Europe at the era of the Reformation. +The weird and wonderful paintings of Dürer are herein concisely +described, as well as the most famous and characteristic of his +engravings and carvings; and his quaint literary works are enumerated. +It has also been thought advisable to devote considerable space to +details about Nuremberg, the scene of the artist's greatest labors; +and to reproduce numerous extracts from his fascinating Venetian +letters and Lowland journals. + +The modern theory as to Dürer's wife and his home has been accepted +in this work, after a long and careful examination of the arguments +on both sides. It is pleasant thus to be able to aid in the +rehabilitation of the much-slandered Agnes, and to have an oppressive +cloud of sorrow removed from the memory of the great painter. + +The chief authorities used in the preparation of this new memoir are +the recent works of Dr. Thausing and Mr. W. B. Scott, with the series +of articles now current in "The Portfolio," written by Professor +Colvin. Mrs. Heaton's biography has also been studied with care; and +other details have been gathered from modern works of travel and +art-criticism, as well as from "The Art Journal," "La Gazette des +Beaux Arts," and other periodicals of a similar character. + + M. F. SWEETSER. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER I. + + 1471-1494. PAGE + + The Activities of Nuremberg.--The Dürer Family.--Early Years of + Albert.--His Studies with Wohlgemuth.--The _Wander-Jahre_ 7 + + + CHAPTER II. + + 1494-1505. + + Dürer marries Agnes Frey.--Her Character.--Early Engravings. + --Portraits.--"The Apocalypse."--Death of Dürer's Father. + --Drawings 28 + + + CHAPTER III. + + 1505-1509. + + The Journey to Venice.--Bellini's Friendship.--Letters to + Pirkheimer.--"The Feast of Rose Garlands."--Bologna.--"Adam and + Eve."--"The Coronation of the Virgin" 47 + + + CHAPTER IV. + + 1509-1514. + + Dürer's House.--His Poetry.--Sculptures.--The Great and Little + Passions.--Life of the Virgin.--Plagiarists.--Works for the Emperor + Maximilian 63 + + + CHAPTER V. + + 1514-1520. + + St. Jerome.--The Melencolia.--Death of Dürer's Mother.--Raphael. + --Etchings.--Maximilian's Arch.--Visit to Augsburg 81 + + + CHAPTER VI. + + 1520-1522. + + Dürer's Tour in the Netherlands.--His Journal.--Cologne.--Feasts + at Antwerp and Brussels.--Procession of Notre Dame.--The + Confirmatia.--Zealand Journey.--Ghent.--Martin Luther 94 + + + CHAPTER VII. + + 1522-1526. + + Nuremberg's Reformation.--The Little Masters.--Glass-Painting. + --Architecture.--Letter to the City Council.--"Art of Mensuration." + --Portraits.--Melanchthon 118 + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + 1526-1528. + + "The Four Apostles."--Dürer's Later Literary Works.--Four Books of + Proportion.--Last Sickness and Death.--Agnes Dürer.--Dürer described + by a Friend 131 + + + + +ALBERT DÜRER. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +The Activities of Nuremberg.--The Dürer Family.--Early Years of +Albert.--His Studies with Wohlgemuth.--The _Wander-Jahre._ + + +The free imperial city of Nuremberg, in the heart of Franconia, was +one of the chief centres of the active life of the Middle Ages, and +shared with Augsburg the great trans-continental traffic between +Venice and the Levant and Northern Europe. Its municipal liberties +were jealously guarded by venerable guilds and by eminent magistrates +drawn from the families of the merchant-princes, forming a government +somewhat similar to the Venetian Council. The profits of a commercial +prosperity second only to that of the Italian ports had greatly +enriched the thrifty burghers, aided by the busy manufacturing +establishments which made the city "the Birmingham of the Middle +Ages." Public and private munificence exerted itself in the erection +and adornment of new and splendid buildings; and the preparation of +works of art and utility was stimulated on all sides. It was the era +of the discovery of America, the revival of classic learning, and the +growth of free thought in matters pertaining to religion. So far had +the inventions of the artisans contributed to the comfort of the +people, that Pope Pius II. said that "A Nuremberg citizen is better +lodged than the King of Scots;" and so widely were they exported to +foreign realms, that the proud proverb arose that + + "Nuremberg's hand + Goes through every land." + +Nuremberg still stands, a vast mediæval relic, in the midst of +the whirl and activity of modern Germany, rich and thriving, but +almost unchanged in its antique beauty. The narrow streets in which +Dürer walked are flanked, as then, by quaint gable-roofed houses, +timber-fronted, with mullioned windows and arching portals. In the +faded and venerable palaces of the fifteenth century live the +descendants of the old patrician families, cherishing the memories and +archives of the past; and the stately Gothic churches are still rich +in religious architecture, and in angular old Byzantine pictures and +delicate German carvings. On the hill the castle rears its ponderous +ramparts, which have stood for immemorial ages; and the high towers +along the city walls have not yet bowed their brave crests to the +spirit of the century of boulevards and railroads. + +With two essentials of civilization, paper and printing-presses, +Nuremberg supplied herself at an early day. The first paper-mill in +Germany was established here in 1390; and its workmen were obliged to +take an oath never to make paper for themselves, nor to reveal the +process of manufacture. They went out on a strike when the mill was +enlarged, but the authorities imprisoned them until they became docile +once more. Koberger's printing-house contained twenty-four presses, +and employed over a hundred men, printing not only Bibles and +breviaries, but also chronicles, homilies, poems, and scientific +works. As the Aldine Press attracted many authors and scholars to +Venice, so Koberger's teeming press led several German literati to +settle at Nuremberg. For the four first years of Dürer's life, the +wonderful mathematician and astronomer Regiomontanus dwelt here, and +had no less than twenty-one books printed by Koberger. His numerous +inventions and instruments awakened the deepest interest in the +Nuremberg craftsmen, and stimulated a fruitful spirit of inquiry for +many years. + +The clockmakers of Nuremberg were famous for their ingenious +productions. Watches were invented here in the year 1500, and were +long known as "Nuremberg eggs." The modern composition of brass was +formed by Erasmus Ebner; wire-drawing machinery also was a Nuremberg +device; the air-gun was invented by Hobsinger; the clarionet, by +Denner; and the church-organs made here were the best in Germany. +There were also many expert metal-workers and braziers; and fifty +master-goldsmiths dwelt in the town, making elegant and highly +artistic works, images, seals, and medals, which were famous +throughout Europe. The most exquisite flowers and insects, and other +delicate objects, were reproduced in filagree silver; and the first +maiolica works in Northern Europe were also founded here. + +Isolated, like the ducal cities of Italy, from the desolating wars of +the great powers of Europe, and like them also growing rapidly in +wealth and cultivation, Nuremberg afforded a secure refuge for Art and +its children. In Dürer's day the great churches of St. Sebald, St. +Lawrence, and Our Lady were finished; Peter Vischer executed the +exquisite and unrivalled bronze Shrine of St. Sebald; and Adam Kraft +completed the fairy-like Sacrament-house, sixty feet high, and +"delicate as a tree covered with hoar-frost." Intimate with these two +renowned artificers was Lindenast, "the red smith," who worked +skilfully in beaten copper; and their studies were conducted in +company with Vischer's five sons, who, with their wives and children, +all dwelt happily at their father's house. Vischer lived till a year +after Dürer's death, but there is no intimation that the two artists +ever met. Another eminent craftsman was the unruly Veit Stoss, the +marvellous wood-carver, many of whose works remain to this day; and +there was also Hans Beheim, the sculptor, "an honorable, pious, and +God-fearing man;" and Bullman, who "was very learned in astronomy, +and was the first to set the Theoria Planetarum in motion by +clockwork;" and he who made the great alarm-bell, which was inscribed, +"I am called the mass and the fire bell: Hans Glockengeiser cast me: I +sound to God's service and honor." What shall we say also of Hartmann, +Dürer's pupil, who invented the measuring-rod; Schoner, the maker of +terrestrial globes; Donner, who improved screw machinery; and all the +skilful gun-makers, joiners, carpet-workers, and silk-embroiderers? +There was also the burgher Martin Behaim, the inventor of the +terrestrial globe, who anticipated Columbus by sailing Eastward across +the Pacific Ocean, passing through the Straits of Magellan and +discovering Brazil, as early as 1485. + +In Germany, as in Italy, the studio of the artist, full of pure and +lofty ideals, had hardly yet evolved itself from the workshop of the +picture-manufacturer. Nuremberg's chief artists at this time were +Michael Wohlgemuth, Dürer's master; Lucas Kornelisz, also called +Ludwig Krug, who, though a most skilful engraver, was sometimes forced +to adopt the profession of a cook in order to support himself; and +Matthias Zagel, who was expert in both painting and engraving. Still +another was the Venetian Jacopo de' Barbari, or Jacob Walch, "the +master of the Caduceus," a dexterous engraver and designer, whom Dürer +alludes to in his Venetian and Netherland writings. The art of +engraving had been invented early in the fifteenth century, and was +developing rapidly and richly toward perfection. The day of versatile +artists had arrived, when men combined the fine and industrial arts in +one life, and devoted themselves to making masterpieces in each +department. The northern nations, unaided by classic models and +traditions, were developing a new and indigenous æsthetic life, slow +of growth, but bound to succeed in the long run. + +The literary society of Dürer's epoch at Nuremberg was grouped in the +_Sodalitas Literaria Rhenana_, under the learned Conrad Celtes, who +published a book of Latin comedies, pure in Latinity and lax in +morals, which he mischievously attributed to the Abbess Roswitha. +Pirkheimer and the monk Chelidonius also belonged to this sodality. +Other contemporary literati of the city were Cochläus, Luther's +satirical opponent; the Hebraist Osiander; Venatorius, who united the +discordant professions of poetry and mathematics; the Provost +Pfinzing, for whose poem of _Tewrdannkh_, Dürer's pupil Schäuffelein +made 118 illustrations; Baumgärtner, Melanchthon's friend; Veit +Dietrich, the reformer; and Joachim Camerarius, the Latinist. But the +most illustrious of Nuremberg's authors at that time was the +cobbler-poet, Hans Sachs, a radical in politics and religion, who +scourged the priests and the capitalists of his day in songs and +satires which were sung and recited by the workmen of all Germany. He +himself tells us that he wrote 4,200 master-songs, 208 comedies and +tragedies, 73 devotional and love songs, and 1,007 fables, tales, and +miscellaneous poems; and others say that his songs helped the +Reformation as much as Luther's preaching. + +Thus the activities of mechanics, art, and literature pressed forward +with equal fervor in the quaint old Franconian city, while Albert +Dürer's life was passing on. "Abroad and far off still mightier things +were doing; Copernicus was writing in his observatory, Vasco di Gama +was on the Southern Seas." + +"I, Albrecht Dürer the younger, have sought out from among my father's +papers these particulars of him, where he came from, and how he lived +and died holily. God rest his soul! Amen." In this manner the pious +artist begins an interesting family history, in which it is stated +that the Dürers were originally from the romantic little Hungarian +hamlet of Eytas, where they were engaged in herding cattle and horses. +Anthony Dürer removed to the neighboring town of Jula, where he +learned the goldsmith's art, which he taught to his son Albrecht, or +Albert, while his other sons were devoted to mechanical employments +and the priesthood. Albert was not content to stay in sequestered +Jula, and, wandering over Germany and the Low Countries, at last came +to Nuremberg, where he settled in 1455, in the service of the +goldsmith Hieronymus Haller. This worthy Haller and his wife Kunigund, +the daughter of Oellinger of Weissenberg, at that time had an infant +daughter; and as she grew up Albert endeared himself to her to such +purpose that, in 1467, when Barbara had become "a fair and handy +maiden of fifteen," he married her, being forty years old himself. +During the next twenty-four years she bore him eighteen children, +seven daughters and eleven sons, of whose births, names, and +godparents the father made careful descriptions. Three only, Albert, +Andreas, and Hans, arrived at years of maturity. It may well be +believed that the poor master-goldsmith was forced to work hard and +struggle incessantly to support such a great family; and his portrait +shows that the hand-to-mouth existence of so many years had told +heavily and left its imprint on his weary and careworn face. Yet he +had certain sources of peace and gentleness in his life, and never +sank into moroseness or selfishness. Let us quote the tender and +reverent words of his son: "My father's life was passed in great +struggles and in continuous hard work. With my dear mother bearing so +many children, he never could become rich, as he had nothing but what +his hands brought him. He had thus many troubles, trials, and adverse +circumstances. But yet from every one who knew him he received praise, +because he led an honorable Christian life, and was patient, giving +all men consideration, and thanking God. He indulged himself in few +pleasures, spoke little, shunned society, and was in truth a +God-fearing man. My dear father took great pains with his children, +bringing them up to the honor of God. He made us know what was +agreeable to others as well as to our Maker, so that we might become +good neighbors; and every day he talked to us of these things, the +love of God and the conduct of life." + +Albert Dürer was the third child of Albert the Elder and Barbara +Hallerin, and was born on the morning of the 21st of May, 1471. The +house in which the Dürers then lived was a part of the great pile of +buildings owned and in part occupied by the wealthy Pirkheimer family, +and was called the _Pirkheimer Hinterhaus_. It fronted on the Winkler +Strasse of Nuremberg, and was an ambitious home for a craftsman like +Albert. The presence of Antonius Koberger, the famous book-printer, as +godfather to the new-born child, shows also that the Dürers occupied +an honorable position in the city. + +The Pirkheimers were then prominent among the patrician families of +Southern Germany, renowned for antiquity, enormously wealthy through +successful commerce, and honored by important offices in the State. +The infant Willibald Pirkheimer was of about the same age as the young +Albert Dürer; and the two became close companions in all their +childish sports, despite the difference in the rank of their families. +When the goldsmith's family moved to another house, at the foot of the +castle-hill, five years later, the warm intimacy between the children +continued unchanged. + +The instruction of Albert in the rudiments of learning was begun at an +early age, probably in the parochial school of St. Sebald, and was +conducted after the singular manner of the schools of that day, when +printed books were too costly to be intrusted to children. He lived +comfortably in his father's house, and daily received the wise +admonitions and moral teachings of the elder Albert. His friendship +for Willibald enabled him to learn certain elements of the higher +studies into which the young patrician was led by his tutors; and his +visits to the Pirkheimer mansion opened views of higher culture and +more refined modes of life. + +Albert was enamoured with art from his earliest years, and spent many +of his leisure hours in making sketches and rude drawings, which he +gave to his schoolmates and friends. The Imhoff Collection had a +drawing of three heads, done in his eleventh year; the Posonyi +Collection claimed to possess a Madonna of his fifteenth year; and the +British Museum has a chalk-drawing of a woman holding a bird in her +hand, whose first owner wrote on it, "This was drawn for me by Albert +Dürer before he became a painter." The most interesting of these early +works is in the Albertina at Vienna, and bears the inscription: "This +I have drawn from myself from the looking-glass, in the year 1484, +when I was still a child.--ALBERT DÜRER." It shows a handsome and +pensive boy-face, oval in shape, with large and tender eyes, filled +with solemnity and vague melancholy; long hair cut straight across the +forehead, and falling over the shoulders; and full and pouting lips. +It is faulty in design, but shows a considerable knowledge of drawing, +and a strong faculty for portraiture. The certain sadness of +expression tells that the schoolboy had already become acquainted with +grief, probably from the straitened circumstances of his family, and +the melancholy deaths of so many brothers and sisters. The great +mystery of sorrow was full early thrown across the path of the solemn +artist. This portrait was always retained by Dürer as a memorial of +his childhood. + +He says of his father, "For me, I think, he had a particular +affection; and, as he saw me diligent in learning, he sent me to +school. When I had learned to write and read, he took me home again, +with the intention of teaching me the goldsmith's work. In this I +began to do tolerably well." He was taken into the goldsmith's +workshop in his thirteenth year, and remained there two years, +receiving instruction which was not without value in his future life, +in showing him the elements of the arts of modelling and design. The +accuracy and delicacy of his later plastic works show how well he +apprehended these ideas, and how far he acquired sureness of +expression. The elder Albert was a skilful master-workman, highly +esteemed in his profession, and had received several important +commissions. It is said that the young apprentice executed under his +care a beautiful piece of silver-work representing the Seven Agonies +of Christ. + +"But my love was towards painting, much more than towards the +goldsmith's craft. When at last I told my father of my inclination, he +was not well pleased, thinking of the time I had been under him as +lost if I turned painter. But he left me to have my will; and in the +year 1486, on St. Andrew's Day, he settled me apprentice with Michael +Wohlgemuth, to serve him for three years. In that time God gave me +diligence to learn well, in spite of the pains I had to suffer from +the other young men." Thus Dürer describes his change in life, and the +embarkation on his true vocation, as well as the reluctance of the +elder Albert to allow his noble and beloved boy to pass out from his +desolated household into other scenes, and away from his +companionship. + +Wohlgemuth was one of the early religious painters who stood at the +transition-point between the school of Cologne and that of the Van +Eycks, or between the old pietistic traditions of Byzantine art +and the new ideas of the art of the Northern Reformation. The +conventionalisms of the Rhenish and Franconian paintings were being +exchanged for a fresher originality and a truer realism; and the +pictures of this time curiously blended the old and the new. +Wohlgemuth seems to have considered art as a money-getting trade +rather than a high vocation, and his workroom was more a shop than a +studio. He turned out countless Madonnas and other religious subjects +for churches and chance purchasers, and also painted chests and carved +and colored images of the saints, many of which were executed by his +apprentices. A few of his works, however, were done with great care +and delicacy, and show a worthy degree of sweetness and simplicity. +Evidently the young pupil gained little besides a technical knowledge +of painting from this master,--the mechanical processes, the modes of +mixing and applying colors, the chemistry of pigments, and a certain +facility in using them. It was well that the influences about him were +not powerful enough to warp his pure and original genius into servile +imitations of decadent methods. His hands were taught dexterity; and +his mind was left to pursue its own lofty course, and use them as its +skilful allies in the new conquests of art. + +Wood-engraving was also carried on in Wohlgemuth's studio, and it is +probable that Dürer here learned the rudiments of this branch of art, +which he afterwards carried to so high a perfection. Some writers +maintain that his earliest works in this line were done for the famous +"Nuremberg Chronicle," which was published in 1493 by Wohlgemuth and +Pleydenwurf. + +The three years which were spent in Wohlgemuth's studio were probably +devoted to apprentice-work on compositions designed by the master, who +was then about fifty years old, and at the summit of his fame. But few +of Dürer's drawings now existing date from this epoch, one of which +represents a group of horsemen, and another the three Swiss leaders, +Fürst, Melchthal, and Staufacher. The beautiful portrait of Dürer's +father, which is now at Florence, was executed by the young artist in +1490, probably to carry with him as a souvenir of home. Mündler says, +"For beauty and delicacy of modelling, this portrait has scarcely been +surpassed afterwards by the master, perhaps not equalled." + +It was claimed by certain old biographers that the eminent Martin +Schongauer of Colmar was Dürer's first master; but this is now +contested, although it is evident that his pictures had a powerful +effect on the youth. Schongauer was the greatest artist and engraver +that Germany had as yet produced, and exerted a profound influence on +the art of the Rhineland. He renewed the fantastic conceits and +grotesque vagaries which the Papal artists of Cologne had suppressed +as heathenish, and prepared the way for, or perhaps even suggested, +the weird elements of Dürer's conceptions. At the same time he passed +back of his Netherland art-education, and studied a mystic benignity +and dreamy spirituality suggestive of the Umbrian painters, with whose +chief, the great Perugino, Martin was acquainted. Herein Dürer's works +were in strong contrast with Schongauer's, and showed the new spirit +that was stirring in the world. + +Next to Schongauer, the great Italian artist Mantegna exercised the +strongest influence upon Dürer, who studied his bold and austere +engravings with earnest admiration, showing his traits in many +subsequent works. Probably he met the famous Mantuan painter during +the _Wander-jahre_, in Italy; and at the close of his Venetian journey +he was about to pay a visit of homage to him, when he heard of his +death. + +During his three years of study we have seen that the delicate and +sensitive youth suffered much from the reckless rudeness and jeering +insults of his companions, rough hand-workers who doubtless failed to +understand the poignancy of the torments which they inflicted on the +sad-eyed son of genius. But his home was near at hand, and the tender +care of his parents, always beloved. How often he must have wandered +through the familiar streets of Nuremberg, with his dreamy artist-face +and flowing hair, and studied the Gothic palaces, the fountains +adorned with statuary, and the rich treasures of art in the great +churches! Beyond the tall-towered town, danger lurked on every road; +but inside the gray walls was peace and safety, and no free lances nor +marauding men-at-arms could check the aspiring flight of the youth's +bright imagination. + +"And when the three years were out, my father sent me away. I remained +abroad four years, when he recalled me; and, as I had left just after +Easter in 1490, I returned home in 1494 just after Whitsuntide." Thus +Albert describes the close of his _Lehr-jahre_, or labor-years, and +the entrance upon his _Wander-jahre_, or travel-years. According to a +German custom, still prevalent in a modified degree, the youth was +obliged to travel for a long period, and study and practise his trade +or profession in other cities, before settling for life as a +master-workman. Unfortunately all that Dürer records as to these +eventful four years is given in the sentences above; and we can only +theorize as to the places which he visited, and his studies of the +older art-treasures of Europe. Some authors believe that a part of the +_Wander-jahre_ was spent in Italy, and Dr. Thausing, Dürer's latest +and best biographer, clearly proves this theory by a close study of +his notes and sketches. Others claim with equal positiveness, and less +capability of proof, that they were devoted to the Low Countries. It +is certain that he abode at Colmar in 1492, where he was honorably +received by Gaspar, Paul, and Louis, the three brothers of Martin +Schongauer. The great Martin had died some years before; but many of +his best paintings were preserved at Colmar, and were carefully +studied by Dürer. At a later day he wandered through the Rhineland to +Basle, and spent his last year at Strasbourg. His portraits of his +master and mistress in the latter city were dated in 1494, and +pertained to the Imhoff Collection. + +His portrait painted by himself in 1493 was procured at Rome by the +Hofrath Beireis, and described by Goethe. It shows a bright and +vigorous face, full of youthful earnestness and joy, rich, harmonious, +and finely executed, though thinly colored. He is attired in a +blue-gray cloak with yellow strings, an embroidered shirt whose +sleeves are bound with peach-colored ribbons, and a purple cap; and +holds a piece of the blue flower called _Manns-treue_, or Man's-faith. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +Dürer marries Agnes Frey.--Her Character.--Early Engravings. +--Portraits.--"The Apocalypse."--Death of Dürer's Father.--Drawings. + + +"And when my _Wander-jahre_ was over, Hans Frey treated with my +father, and gave me his daughter, by name the _Jungfrau_ Agnes, with a +dowry of 200 guldens. Our wedding was held on the Monday before St. +Margaret's Day (in July), in the year 1494." This dry statement of the +most important event of the artist's life illustrates the ancient +German custom of betrothal, where the bond of wedlock was considered +as a matter-of-fact copartnership, with inalienable rights and duties, +devoid of sentiment or romance. Since the relatives of the contracting +parties were closely affected by such transactions, they usually +managed the negotiations themselves; and the young people, thus thrown +by their parents at each other's heads, were expected to, and usually +did, accept the situation with submissiveness and prudent obedience. +In this case it appears that the first overtures came from the family +of the lady; and perhaps the order for Albert to return from his +wanderings was issued for this reason. Hans Frey was a burgher with +large possessions in Nuremberg and the adjacent country; and his +daughter was a very beautiful maiden. Her future husband does not +appear to have seen her until the betrothal was made. + +Most of Dürer's biographers have dwelt at great length on the malign +influence which Agnes exercised upon his life, representing her as a +jealous virago, imbittering the existence of the noble artist. But Dr. +Thausing, in his new and exhaustive history of Dürer's life, +vindicates the lady from this evil charge; and his position is +carefully reviewed and sustained by Eugéne Müntz. He points out the +fact that the long story of Agnes's uncongeniality rests solely on +Pirkheimer's letter, and then shows that that ponderous burgher had +reasons for personal hostility to her. The unbroken silence which +Dürer preserves as to home-troubles, throughout his numerous letters +and journals, is held as proof against the charges; and none of his +intimate friends and contemporaries (save Pirkheimer) allude to his +domestic trials, though they wrote so much about him. The accusation +of avarice on her part is combated by several facts, among which is +the cardinal one of her self-sacrificing generosity to the Dürer +family after her husband's death, and the remarkable record of her +transferring to the endowment of the Protestant University of +Wittenberg the thousand florins which Albert had placed in the hands +of the Rath for her support. Pirkheimer's acrimonious letter (see p. +142) gives her credit at least for virtue and piety; and perhaps we +may regard her aversion to the doughty writer as a point in her favor. + +It is a singular and unexplained fact, that although Dürer was +accustomed to sketch every one about him, yet no portrait of his wife +is certainly known to exist, though several of his sketches are so +called, without any foundation or proof. What adds to the strangeness +of this omission is the fact that all accounts represent Agnes Dürer +as a very handsome woman. + +Probably the newly married couple dwelt at the house of the elder +Dürer during the first years of their union. In 1494 Albert was +admitted to the guild of painters, submitting a pen-drawing of +Orpheus and the Bacchantes as his test of ability; and at about the +same time he drew the "Bacchanal" and "The Battle of the Tritons," +which are now at Vienna. Herein he showed the contemporary classical +tendency of art, which he so soon outgrew. About this same time he +designed a frontispiece for the Latin poem which Dr. Ulsen had written +about the pestilence which was devastating Nuremberg, showing a +ghastly and repulsive man covered with plague-boils. The portrait of +Dürer's father, in oil-colors, which is now at Frankfort, was also +executed during this year. + +Dürer's first copper-plate engraving dates from 1497, and represents +four naked women, under a globe bearing the initials of "_O Gott +Hilf_," or "O God, help," while human bones strew the floor, and a +flaming devil appears in the background. During the next three years +the master made twenty copper-plate engravings. The composition of +"St. Jerome's Penance" shows the noble old ascetic kneeling alone in +a rocky wilderness, beating his naked breast with a stone, and gazing +at a crucifix, while the symbolical lion lies beside him. "The Penance +of St. John Chrysostom" depicts the long-bearded saint expiating +his guilt in seducing and slaying the princess by crawling about +on all-fours like a beast. She is seen at the mouth of a rocky +cave, nursing her child. "The Prodigal Son" is another tender and +exquisitely finished copper-plate engraving, in which the yearning and +prayerful Prodigal, bearing the face of Dürer, is kneeling on bare +knees by the trough at which a drove of swine are feeding. In the +background is a group of substantial German farm-buildings, with +unconcerned domestic animals and fowls. "The Rape of Amymone" shows a +gloomy Triton carrying off a very ugly woman from the midst of her +bathing Danaide sisters. "The Dream" portrays an obese German soundly +sleeping by a great stove, with a foolish-faced naked Venus and a +winged Cupid standing by his side, and a little demon blowing in his +ear. "The Love Offer" is made by an ugly old man to a pretty maiden, +whose waist is encircled by his arm, while her hand is greedily +outstretched to receive the money which he offers. Another early +engraving on copper shows a wild and naked man holding an unspeakably +ugly woman, who is endeavoring to tear herself from his arms. Still +others delineate Justice sitting on a lion, "The Little Fortune" +standing naked on a globe, and the monstrous hog of Franconia. + +It was chiefly through his engravings that Dürer became and remains +known to the world; and by the same mode of expression he boldly +showed forth the doubts and despairs, yearnings and conflicts, not +only of his own pure and sorrowful soul, but also of Europe, quivering +in the throes of the Reformation. + +The artists of Italy, when the age of faith was ended, turned to the +empty splendors and symmetries of paganism; but their German brothers +faced the new problems more sternly, and strove for the life of the +future. Under Dürer's hard and homely German scenes, there seem to be +double meanings and unfathomable fancies, usually alluding to sorrow, +sin, and death, and showing forth the vanity of all things earthly. In +sharp contrast with these profound allegories are the humorous +grotesqueness and luxuriant fancifulness which appear in others of the +artist's engravings, fantastic, uncouth, and quaint. He frequently +yielded to the temptation to introduce strange animals and unearthly +monsters into his pictures, even those of the most sacred subjects; +and his so-called "Virgin with the Animals" is surrounded by scores of +birds, insects, and quadrupeds of various kinds. + +It is interesting to hear of the rarity of the early impressions of +Dürer's engravings, and the avidity with which they are sought and the +keenness with which they are analyzed by collectors. In many cases the +copies of these engravings are as good as the originals, and can be +distinguished only by the most trifling peculiarities. The water-marks +of the paper on which they are printed form a certain indication of +their period. Before his Venetian journey Dürer used paper bearing the +water-mark of the bull's head; and, after his return from the +Netherlands, paper bearing a little pitcher; while the middle period +had several peculiar symbols. A fine impression of the copper-plate +engraving of "St. Jerome" recently brought over $500; and the Passion +in Copper sold in 1864 for $300. + +"The Portfolio" for 1877 contains a long series of articles by Prof. +Sidney Colvin on "Albert Dürer: His Teachers, his Rivals, and his +Scholars," treating exhaustively of his relations as an engraver to +other contemporary masters,--Schongauer, Israhel van Meckenen, +Mantegna, Boldini and the Florentines, Jacopo de' Barbari (Jacob +Walch), Marc Antonio, Lucas van Leyden, and certain other excellent +but nameless artists. + +Vasari says, "The power and boldness of Albert increasing with time, +and as he perceived his works to obtain increasing estimation, he now +executed engravings on copper, which amazed all who beheld them." +Three centuries later Von Schlegel wrote, "When I turn to look at the +numberless sketches and copper-plate designs of the present day, Dürer +appears to me like the originator of a new and noble system of +thought, burning with the zeal of a first pure inspiration, and eager +to diffuse his deeply conceived and probably true and great ideas." + +In 1497 Dürer painted the excellent portrait of his father, which the +Rath of Nuremberg presented to Charles I. of England, and which is now +at Sion House, the seat of the Earl of Northumberland. It shows a man +aged yet strong, with grave and anxious eyes, compressed lips, and an +earnest expression. Another similar portrait of the same date is in +the Munich Pinakothek. He also executed two portraits of the pretty +patrician damsel, Catherine Fürleger; one as a loose-haired Magdalen +(which is now in London), and the other as a German lady (now at +Frankfort). + +In 1498 Dürer painted a handsome portrait of himself, with curly hair +and beard, and a rich holiday costume. His expression is that of a man +who appreciates and delights in his own value, and is thoroughly +self-complacent. This picture was presented by Nuremberg to King +Charles I. of England; and, in the dispersion of his gallery during +the Commonwealth, it was bought by the Grand Duke of Tuscany. It is +now in the Uffizi Gallery, though Mündler calls this Florentine +picture a copy of a nobler original which is in the Madrid Gallery. + +During this year Dürer published his first great series of woodcuts, +representing the Apocalypse of St. John, in fifteen pictures full of +terrible impressiveness and the naturalistic quaintness of early +German faith. The boldness of the youth who thus took for his theme +the marvellous mysteries of Patmos was warranted in the grand +weirdness and perennial fascination of the resulting compositions. +This series of rich and skilful engravings marked a new era in the +history of wood-engraving, and the entrance of a noble artistic spirit +into a realm which had previously been occupied by rude monkish cuts +of saints and miracles. Jackson calls these representations of the +Apocalypse "much superior to all wood-engravings that had previously +appeared, both in design and execution." The series was brought out +simultaneously in German and Latin editions, and was published by the +author himself. It met with a great success, and was soon duplicated +in new pirated editions. + +It has of late years become a contested point as to whether Dürer +really engraved his woodcuts with his own hands, or whether he only +drew the designs on the wood, and left their mechanical execution to +practical workmen. It is only within the present century that a theory +to the latter effect has been advanced and supported by powerful +arguments and first-class authorities. The German scholars Bartsch and +Von Eye, and the historians of engraving Jackson and Chatto, concur in +denying Dürer's use of the graver. But there is a strong and +well-supported belief that many of the engravings attributed to him +were actually done by his hand, and that during the earlier part of +his career he was largely engaged in this way. The exquisite +wood-carvings which are undoubtedly his work show that he was not +devoid of the manual dexterity needful for these plates; and it is +also certain that the mediæval artists did not hold themselves above +mechanical labors, since even Raphael and Titian were among the +_peintres-graveurs_. Dürer's efforts greatly elevated the art of +wood-engraving in Germany, and this improvement was directly conducive +to its growth in popularity. A large number of skilful engravers were +developed by the new demand; and in his later years Dürer doubtless +found enough expert assistants, and was enabled to devote his time to +more noble achievements. He used the art to multiply and disseminate +his rich ideas, which thus found a more ready expression than +that of painting. Heller attributes one hundred and seventy-four +wood-engravings to him; and many more, of varying claims to +authenticity, are enumerated by other writers. Twenty-six were made +before 1506. The finest and the only perfect collection of Dürer's +woodcuts is owned by Herr Cornill d'Orville of Frankfort-on-the-Main. + +In 1500 Dürer painted the noble portrait of himself which is now at +Munich, and is the favorite of all lovers of the great artist. It +shows a high and intellectual forehead, and tender and loving eyes, +with long curling hair which falls far down on his shoulders. In many +respects it bears the closest resemblance to the traditional pictures +of Christ, with its sad and solemn beauty, and large sympathetic eyes, +and has the same effeminate full lips and streaming ringlets. + +During the next five years Dürer was in some measure compensated for +the trials of his home by the cheerful companionship of his old friend +Pirkheimer, who had recently returned from service with the Emperor's +army in the Tyrolese wars. At his hospitable mansion the artist met +many eminent scholars, reformers, and literati, and broadened his +knowledge of the world, while receiving worthy homage for his genius +and his personal accomplishments. Baumgärtner, Volkamer, Harsdorfer, +and other patricians of the city, were his near friends; and the +Augustine Prior, Eucharius Karl, and the brilliant Lazarus Spengler, +the Secretary of Nuremberg, were also intimate with both Dürer and +Pirkheimer. During the next twenty years the harassed artist often +sought refuge among these gatherings of choice spirits, when weary of +his continuous labors of ambition. + +Dürer pathetically narrates the death of his venerable father, in +words as vivid as one of his pictures, and full of quaint tenderness: +"Soon he clearly saw death before him, and with great patience waited +to go, recommending my mother to me, and a godly life to all of us. He +received the sacraments, and died a true Christian, on the eve of St. +Matthew (Sept. 21), at midnight, in 1502.... The old nurse helped him +to rise, and put the close cap upon his head again, which had become +wet by the heavy sweat. He wanted something to drink; and she gave him +Rhine wine, of which he tasted some, and then wished to lie down +again. He thanked her for her aid, but no sooner lay back upon his +pillows than his last agony began. Then the old woman trimmed the +lamp, and set herself to read aloud St. Bernard's dying song; but she +only reached the third verse, and behold his soul had gone. God be +good to him! Amen. Then the little maid, when she saw that he was +dying, ran quickly up to my chamber, and waked me. I went down fast, +but he was gone; and I grieved much that I had not been found worthy +to be beside him at his end." + +At this time Albert took home his brother Hans, who was then twelve +years old, to learn the art of painting in his studio; and his other +young brother, Andreas, the goldsmith's apprentice, now set forth upon +his _Wander-jahre_. Within two years his mother, the widowed Barbara, +had exhausted her scanty means; and she also was taken into Dürer's +home, and lovingly cared for by her son. + +In 1503 Dürer's frail constitution yielded to an attack of illness. A +drawing of Christ crowned with thorns, now in the British Museum, +bears his inscription: "I drew this face in my sickness, 1503." In the +same year he executed a copper-plate engraving of a skull emblazoned +on an escutcheon, which is crowned by a winged helmet, and supported +by a weird woman, over whose shoulder a satyr's face is peering. A +contemporary copper-plate shows the Virgin nursing the Infant Jesus. +The painting of this same subject, bearing the date of 1503, is now in +the Vienna Belvedere, portraying an unlovely German mother and a very +earthly baby. + +The celebrated "Green Passion" was executed in 1504, and is a series +of twelve drawings on green paper, illustrating the sufferings of +Christ. Some critics prefer this set, for delicacy and power, to +either of the three engraved Passions. The theory is advanced that +these exquisite drawings were made for the Emperor, or some other +magnate, who wished to possess a unique copy. The Green Passion is now +in the Vienna Albertina, the great collection of drawings made by the +Archduke Albert of Sachsen-Teschen, which includes 160 of Dürer's +sketches, designs, travel-notes, studies of costume and architecture, +&c. + +Over 600 authentic sketches and drawings by Dürer are now preserved in +Europe, and are of great interest as showing the freedom and firmness +of the great master's first conceptions, and the gradual evolution of +his ultimate ideas. They are drawn on papers of various colors and +different preparations, with pen, pencil, crayon, charcoal, silver +point, tempera, or water-colors. Some are highly finished, and +others are only rapid jottings or bare outlines. The richest of the +ancient collections was that of Hans Imhoff of Nuremberg, who +married Pirkheimer's daughter Felicitas, and in due time added his +father-in-law's Dürer-drawings to his own collection. His son +Willibald further enriched the family art-treasures by many of +the master's drawings which he bought from Andreas Dürer, and by +inheriting the pictures of Barbara Pirkheimer. He solemnly enjoined +in his will that this great collection should never be alienated, but +should descend through the Imhoff family as an honored possession. His +widow, however, speedily offered to sell the entire series to the +Emperor Rudolph, and it was soon broken up and dispersed. The Earl of +Arundel secured a great number of Dürer's drawings here, and carried +them to England. In 1637 Arundel bought a large folio containing +nearly 200 of these sketches, which was bequeathed to the British +Museum in 1753 by Sir Hans Sloane. The museum has now one of the best +existing collections of these works, some of which are of rare +interest and value, especially the highly finished water-colors and +pen-drawings. + +The interesting sketch-books used by Dürer on his journeys to Venice +and to the Netherlands remained forgotten in the archives of a noble +Nuremberg family until within less than a century, when the family +became extinct, and its property was dispersed. They were then +acquired by the venerable antiquary Baron von Derschau, who sold them +to Nagler and Heller. Nagler's share was afterwards acquired by the +Berlin Museum; and Heller's was bequeathed to the library of Bamberg. + +In 1504 Pirkheimer's wife Crescentia died in childbirth, after only +two years of married life. Her husband bore witness that she had never +caused him any trouble, except by her death; and engaged Dürer to make +a picture of her death-bed. This work was beautifully executed in +water-colors, and depicts the expiring woman on a great bedstead, +surrounded by many persons, among whom are Pirkheimer and his sister +Charitas, the Abbess, with the Augustinian Prior. + +The exquisite copper-plate engraving of "The Nativity" dates from this +year, and shows the Virgin adoring the new-born Jesus, in the shelter +of a humble German house among massive ancient ruins, while Joseph is +drawing water from the well, and an old shepherd approaches the Child +on his knees. The "Adam and Eve" was also done on copper this year, +with the parents of all mankind, surrounded by animals, and standing +near the tree of knowledge, from which the serpent is delivering the +fatal apple to Eve. + +In the same year Dürer painted a carefully wrought "Adoration of +the Kings," for the Elector Frederick the Wise of Saxony. It was +afterwards presented by Christian II. to the Emperor Rudolph, and is +now in the Uffizi, at Florence, which contains more pictures by +Dürer than any other gallery outside of Germany. Here also is the +controverted picture of "Calvary," dated 1505, displaying on one small +canvas all the scenes of the Passion, with an astonishing number of +figures finished in miniature. + +"The Satyr's Family" is an engraving on copper, showing the +goat-footed father cheerily playing on a pipe, to the evident +amusement of his human wife and child. "The Great Horse" and "The +Little Horse" are similar productions of this period, in which the +commentators vainly strive to find some recondite meaning. Sixteen +engravings on copper were made between 1500 and 1506. + +Dürer has been called "The Chaucer of Painting," by reason of the +marvellous quaintness of his conceptions; and Ruskin speaks of him as +"intense in trifles, gloomily minute." His details, minute as they +were, received the most careful study, and were all thought out before +the pictures were begun, so that he neither erased nor altered his +lines, nor made preliminary sketches. He was essentially a thinker who +drew, rather than a drawer who thought. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +The Journey to Venice.--Bellini's Friendship.--Letters to +Pirkheimer.--"The Feast of Rose Garlands."--Bologna.--"Adam and +Eve."--"The Coronation of the Virgin." + + +Late in 1505 Dürer made a journey to Venice, probably with a view to +recover his health, enlarge his circle of friends and patrons, and +study the famous Venetian paintings. He was worn down by continuous +hard work, and weary of the dull uneventfulness of his life, and +hailed an opportunity to rest in sunny Italy. He borrowed money from +Pirkheimer for his journey, and left a small sum for family expenses +during his absence. Between Nuremberg and her rich Southern rival +there was a large commerce, with a weekly post; and many German +merchants and artists were then residing in Venice. Dürer rode down on +horseback; and suffered an attack of illness at Stein, near Laibach, +where he rewarded the artist who had nursed him by painting a picture +on the wall of his house. On arriving at Venice, the master was +cordially received, and highly honored by the chief artists and +literati of the city. The heads of Venetian art at that time were +Giovanni Bellini and Carpaccio, both of whom were advanced in years; +and Giorgione and Titian, who were not mentioned by our traveller, +though they were both at work for the Fondaco de' Tedeschi at the same +time as himself. + +During his residence in Venice he wrote nine long letters to "the +honorable and wise Herr Willibald Pirkheimer, Burgher of Nuremberg," +which were walled up in the Imhoff mansion during the Thirty Years' +War, and discovered at a later age. Much of these letters is taken up +with details about Pirkheimer's commissions for precious stones and +books, or with badinage about the burgher's private life, with +frequent allusions to the support of the Dürers at home. Of greater +interest are the accounts of the writer's successes in art, and the +friends whom he met in Venetian society. The letters were embellished +with rude caricatures and grotesques, matching the broad humor of the +jovial allusions in the text. Either Pirkheimer was a man of most +riotous life, or Dürer was a bold and pertinacious jester, unwearying +in mock-earnest reproofs. These letters were sealed with the Dürer +crest, composed of a pair of open doors above three steps on a shield, +which was a punning allusion to the name Dürer, or Thürer, _Thür_ +being the German word for _door_. In the second letter he says,-- + + "I wish you were in Venice. There are many fine fellows among + the painters, who get more and more friendly with me; it + holds one's heart up. Well-brought-up folks, good + lute-players, skilled pipers, and many noble and excellent + people, are in the company, all wishing me very well, and + being very friendly. On the other hand, here are the falsest, + most lying, thievish villains in the whole world, appearing + to the unwary the pleasantest possible fellows. I laugh to + myself when they try it with me: the fact is, they know their + rascality is public, though one says nothing. I have many + good friends among the Italians, who warn me not to eat or + drink with their painters; for many of them are my enemies, + and copy my picture in the church, and others of mine + wherever they meet with them; and yet, notwithstanding this, + they abuse my works, and say that they are not according to + ancient art, and therefore not good. But Gian Bellini has + praised me highly before several gentlemen, and he wishes to + have something of my painting. He came himself, and asked me + to do something for him, saying that he would pay me well for + it; and all the people here tell me what a good man he is, so + that I also am greatly inclined to him." + +These sentences show the artist's pleasure at the kindly way in which +the Italians received him, and also reveal the danger in which he +stood of being poisoned by jealous rivals. Another ambiguous sentence +has given rise to the belief that Dürer had visited Venice eleven +years previously, during his _Wander-jahre_. + +Camerarius says that Bellini was so amazed and delighted at the +exquisite fineness of Dürer's painting, especially of hair, that he +begged him to give him the brush with which he had done such delicate +work. The Nuremberger offered him any or all of his brushes, but +Bellini asked again for the one with which he had painted the hair; +upon which Dürer took one of his common brushes, and painted a long +tress of woman's hair. Bellini reported that he would not have +believed such marvellous work possible, if he had not seen it himself. + +The third letter describes the adventures of the inexpert artist in +securing certain sapphires, amethysts, and emeralds for his "dear Herr +Pirkheimer," and complains that the money earned by painting was all +swallowed up by living expenses. The jealous Venetian painters had +also forced him, by process of law, to pay money to their art-schools. + +His brother Hans was now sixteen years old, and had become a source of +responsibility, for Dürer adds: "With regard to my brother, tell my +mother to speak to Wohlgemuth, and see whether he wants him, or will +give him work till I return, or to others, so that he may help +himself. I would willingly have brought him with me to Venice, which +would have been useful to him and to me, and also on account of his +learning the language; but my mother was afraid that the heavens would +fall upon him and upon me too. I pray you, have an eye to him +yourself: he is lost with the women-folk. Speak to the boy as you +well know how to do, and bid him behave well and learn diligently +until I return, and not be a burden to the mother; for I cannot do +every thing, although I will do my best." + +In the fourth letter he speaks of having traded his pictures for +jewels, and sends greetings to his friend Baumgärtner, saying also: +"Know that by the grace of God I am well, and that I am working +diligently.... I wish that it suited you to be here. I know you would +find the time pass quickly, for there are many agreeable people here, +very good amateurs; and I have sometimes such a press of strangers to +visit me, that I am obliged to hide myself; and all the gentlemen wish +me well, but very few of the painters." + +The fifth letter opens with a long complimentary flourish in a +barbarous mixture of Italian and Spanish, and then chaffs Pirkheimer +unmercifully for his increasing intrigues. It also thanks Pirkheimer +for trying to placate Agnes Frey, who is evidently much disappointed +because her husband lingers so long at Venice. The Prior Eucharius is +besought to pray that Dürer might be delivered from the new and +terrible "French disease," then fatally prevalent in Italy. Mention is +made of Andreas, the goldsmith, Dürer's brother, meeting him at +Venice, and borrowing money to relieve his distress. + +The next letter starts off with quaint mock-deference, and alludes to +the splendid Venetian soldiery, and their contempt of the Emperor. +Farther on are unintelligible allusions, and passages too vulgar for +translation. He says that the Doge and Patriarch had visited his +studio to inspect the new picture, and that he had effectually +silenced the artists who claimed that he was only good at engraving, +and could not use colors. Soon afterwards he writes about the +completion of his great painting of the Rose Garlands; and says, +"There is no better picture of the Virgin Mary in the land, because +all the artists praise it, as well as the nobility. They say they have +never seen a more sublime, a more charming painting." He adds that he +had declined orders to the amount of over 2,000 ducats, in order to +return home, and was then engaged in finishing a few portraits. + +The last letter congratulates Pirkheimer on his political successes, +but expresses a fear lest "so great a man will never go about the +streets again talking with the poor painter Dürer,--with a poltroon +of a painter." In response to Pirkheimer's threat of making love to +his wife if he remained away longer, he said that if such was done, he +might keep Agnes until her death. He also tells how he had been +attending a dancing-school, but could not learn the art, and retired +in disgust after two lessons. + +The picture which Dürer painted for the Fondaco de' Tedeschi was until +recently supposed to be a "St. Bartholomew;" but it is now believed +that it was the renowned "Feast of Rose Garlands," which is now at the +Bohemian Monastery of Strahow. He worked hard on this picture for +seven months, and was proud of its beauty and popularity. The Emperor +Rudolph II. bought it from the church in which it was set up, and had +it carried on men's shoulders all the way from Venice to Prague, to +avoid the dangers attending other modes of conveyance. When Joseph II. +sold his pictures, in 1782, this one was bought by the Abbey of +Strahow, and remained buried in oblivion for three-quarters of a +century. The picture shows the Virgin sitting under a canopy and a +star-strewn crown held by flying cherubs, with the graceful Child in +her lap. She is placing a crown of roses on the head of the Emperor +Maximilian, while Jesus places another on the head of the Pope; and +a monk on one side is similarly honored by St. Dominic, the founder +of the Feast of the Rose Garlands. A multitude of kneeling men and +women on either side are being crowned with roses by merry little +child-angels, flying through the air; while on the extreme right, +Dürer and Pirkheimer are seen standing by a tree. + +Pirkheimer and Agnes had both been urging the master to return; but he +seemed reluctant to exchange the radiance of Italy for the quietness +of his home-circle, and mournfully exclaims, "Oh, how I shall freeze +after this sunshine! Here I am a gentleman, at home only a parasite!" +A brilliant career was open before him at Venice, whose Government +offered him a pension of 200 ducats; but his sense of duty compelled +him to return to Germany, though in bitterness of spirit. Before +turning Northward he rode to Bologna, "because some one there will +teach me the secret art of perspective" (Francesco Francia); and met +Christopher Scheurl, who greatly admired him. A year later Raphael +also came to Bologna, and saw some works left there by Dürer, from +which arose an intimate correspondence and exchanges of pictures +between the artists. The master had been invited to visit the +venerable Mantegna, at Mantua; but that Nestor of North-Italian art +died before the plan was carried out. Dürer afterwards told Camerarius +that this death "caused him more grief than any mischance that had +befallen him during his life." + +Art-critics agree in rejoicing that Dürer conquered the temptations +which were held out to him from the gorgeous Italian city, and +returned to his plain life in the cold North. He escaped the danger of +sacrificing his individualism to the glowing and sensuous Venetian +school of art, and preserved the quaintness and vigor of his own +Gothic inspirations for the joy of future ages. + +The marine backgrounds in many of Dürer's later pictures are referred +by Ruskin to the artist's pleasant memories of Venice, "where he +received the rarest of all rewards granted to a good workman; and, for +once in his life, was understood." Other and wilder landscapes in his +woodcuts were reminiscences of the pastoral regions of the Franconian +Switzerland. + +The personal history of Dürer between 1507 and 1520 was barren of +details, but evidently full of earnest work, as existing pictures bear +witness. It was the golden period of his art-life, abounding in +productiveness. His workshop was the seat of the chief art-school in +Nuremberg, and contained many excellent young painters and engravers, +to whom the master delivered his wise axioms and earnest thoughts in +rich profusion. + +During this period, also, he probably executed certain of his best +works in carving, which are hereinafter described. Dr. Thausing +denies that Dürer used the chisel of the sculptor to any extent, and +refuses to accept the genuineness of the carvings which the earlier +biographers have attributed to him. Scott is of the opinion that in +most cases these rich and delicate works were executed by other +persons, either from his drawings or under his inspection. + +On his return from Venice, Dürer painted life-sized nude figures of +Adam and Eve, representing them with the fatal apple in their hands, +at the moment of the Fall. They are well designed in outline, but +possess a certain anatomical hardness, lacking in grace and mobility. +They were greatly admired by the Nurembergers, in whose Rath-haus +they were placed; but were at length presented to the Emperor Rudolph +II. He replaced them with copies, which Napoleon, in 1796, supposed to +be Dürer's original works, and removed to Paris. He afterwards +presented them to the town of Mayence, where they are still exhibited +as Dürer's. The true originals passed into Spain, where they were +first redeemed from oblivion by Passavant, about the year 1853. A copy +of the Adam and Eve, which was executed in Dürer's studio and under +his care, is now at the Pitti Palace. + +In the spring of 1507 Dürer met at the house of his brother-in-law +Jacob Frey, the rich Frankfort merchant Jacob Heller, who commissioned +him to paint an altar-piece. He was delayed by a prolonged attack of +fever in the summer, and by the closing works on the Elector's +picture. + +Between 1507 and 1514 (inclusive) Dürer made forty-eight engravings +and etchings, and over a hundred woodcuts, bespeaking an iron +diligence and a remarkable power of application. The rapid sale of +these works in frequent new editions gave a large income to their +author, and placed him in a comfortable position among the burghers +of Nuremberg. The religious excitement then prevailing throughout +Europe, on the eve of the Reformation, increased the demand for his +engravings of the Virgin, the saints, and the great Passion series. + +In 1508 Dürer finished the painting of "The Martyrdom of the Ten +Thousand Christians," to which he professed to have given all his time +for a year. It was ordered by Frederick of Saxony, the patron of Lucas +Cranach, who had seen the master's woodcut of the same subject, and +desired it reproduced in an oil-painting. It is a painful and +unpleasant scene, full of brutality and horror; and the picture is +devoid of unity, though conspicuous for clear and brilliant coloring. +Dürer and Pirkheimer stand in the middle of the foreground. + +On the completion of this work the master wrote to Heller, "No one +shall persuade me to work according to what I am paid." He then began +Heller's altar-piece, under unnecessary exhortation "to paint his +picture well," and made a great number of careful studies for the new +composition. When fairly under way, he demanded 200 florins for his +work instead of the 130 florins of the contract-price, which drew an +angry answer from the frugal merchant, with accusations of dishonesty. +The artist rejoined sharply, dwelling upon the great cost of the +colors and the length of the task, yet offering to carry out his +contract in order to save his good faith. Throughout the next year +Heller stimulated the painter to hasten his work, until Dürer became +angry, and threw up the commission. He was soon induced to resume it, +and completed the picture in the summer of 1509, upon which the +delighted merchant paid him gladly, and sent handsome presents to his +wife and brother. Dürer wrote to Heller, "It will last fresh and clean +for five hundred years, for it is not done as ordinary paintings +are.... But no one shall ever again persuade me to undertake a +painting with so much work in it. Herr Jorg Tauss offered himself to +pay me 400 florins for a Virgin in a landscape, but I declined +positively, for I should become a beggar by this means. Henceforward I +will stick to my engraving; and, if I had done so before, I should be +richer by a thousand florins than I am to-day." + +The picture which caused so much argument and toil was "The Coronation +of the Virgin," which was set up over the bronze monument of the +Heller family in the Dominican Church at Frankfort. Its exquisite +delicacy of execution attracted great crowds to the church, and +quickly enriched the monastery. Singularly enough, the most famous +part of the picture was the sole of the foot of one of the kneeling +Apostles, which was esteemed such a marvellous work that great sums +were offered to have it cut out of the canvas. The Emperor Rudolph II. +offered the immense amount of 10,000 florins for the painting, in +vain; but in 1613 it passed into the possession of Maximilian of +Bavaria, and was destroyed in the burning of the palace at Munich, +sixty years later. So the renowned picture, which Dürer said gave him +"more joy and satisfaction than any other he ever undertook," passed +away, leaving no engraving or other memorial, save a copy by Paul +Juvenal. This excellent reproduction is now at Nuremberg, and is +provided with the original wings, beautifully painted by Dürer, +showing on one the portrait of Jacob Heller and the death of St. +James, and on the other Heller's wife, and the martyrdom of St. +Catherine. + +In 1501 the burgher Schiltkrot and the pious copper-smith Matthäus +Landäuer founded the House of the Twelve Brothers, an alms-house for +poor old men of Nuremberg; and eight years later, Landäuer ordered +Dürer to paint an altar-piece of "The Adoration of the Trinity," for +its chapel. Much of the master's time for the next two years was +devoted to this great work. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Dürer's House.--His Poetry.--Sculptures.--The Great and Little +Passions.--Life of the Virgin.--Plagiarists.--Works for the Emperor +Maximilian. + + +Some time after his marriage with Agnes Frey, Dürer moved into the new +house near the Thiergärtner Gate, which had perhaps been bought with +the dowry of his bride. Here he labored until his death, and executed +his most famous works. It is a spacious house, with a lower story of +stone, wide portals, a paved interior court, and pleasant upper rooms +between thick half-timber walls, whose mullioned windows look out on +lines of quaint Gothic buildings and towers, and on the broad paved +square at the foot of the Zisselgasse (now Albrecht-Dürer-Strasse). +Just across the square was the so-called "Pilate's House," whose +owner, Martin Koetzel, had made two pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and +brought back measurements of the Dolorous Way. The artist's house is +now carefully preserved as public property, and contains the gallery +of the Dürer Art-Union. In 1828, on the third centennial of his death, +the people erected a bronze statue of the master, designed by Rauch, +on the square before the house. + +In 1509-10 Dürer derived pleasure and furnished much amusement to his +friends from verse-making, in which he suffered a worse failure even +than Raphael had done. It seems that Pirkheimer ridiculed a long-drawn +couplet which he had made, upon which the master composed a neat bit +of proverbial philosophy, of which the following is a translation:-- + + "Strive earnestly with all thy might, + That God should give thee Wisdom's light; + He doth his wisdom truly prove, + Whom neither death nor riches move; + And he shall also be called wise, + Who joy and sorrow both defies; + He who bears both honor and shame, + He well deserves the wise man's name; + Who knows himself, and evil shuns, + In Wisdom's path he surely runs; + Who 'gainst his foe doth vengeance cherish, + In hell-flame cloth his wisdom perish; + Who strives against the Devil's might, + The Lord will help him in the fight; + Who keeps his heart forever pure, + He of Wisdom's crown is sure; + And who loves God with all his heart, + Chooses the wise and better part." + +But Pirkheimer was not more pleased with this; and the witty Secretary +Spengler sent Dürer a satirical poem, applying the moral of the fable +of the shoemaker who criticised a picture by Apelles. He answered this +in a song of sixty lines, closing with,-- + + "Therefore I will still make rhymes, + Though my friend may laugh at times: + So the Painter with hairy beard + Says to the Writer who mocked and jeered." + +"1510, this have I made on Good and Bad Friends." Thus the master +prefaces a platitudinous poem of thirty lines; which was soon followed +by "The Teacher," of sixty lines. Later in the year he wrote the long +Passion-Song, which was appended to the print of _Christus am Kreuz_. +It is composed of eight sections, of ten lines each, and is full +of quaint mediæval tenderness and reverence, and the intense +prayerfulness of the old German faith. The sections are named Matins, +the First, Third, Sixth, and Ninth Hours, Vespers, Compline, and Let +Us Pray, the latter of which is redolent with earnest devotion:-- + + "O Almighty Lord and God, + Who the martyr's press hast trod; + Jesus, the only God, the Son, + Who all this to Thyself hast done, + Keep it before us to-day and to-morrow, + Give us continual rue and sorrow; + Wash me clean, and make me well, + I pray Thee, like a soul from hell. + Lord, Thou hast overcome: look down; + Let us at last to share the crown." + +The marvellous high-relief of "The Birth of St. John the Baptist" +as executed in 1510, and shows Dürer's remarkable powers as a +sculptor. It is cut in a block of cream-colored lithographic stone, +7-1/2 × 5-1/2 inches in size, and is full of rich and minute pictorial +details. Elizabeth is rising in bed, aided by two attendants; and the +old nurse brings the infant to Zacharias, who writes its name on a +tablet, while two men are entering at the doorway. The room is +furnished with the usual utensils and properties of a German bedroom. +This wonderful and well-preserved work of art was bought in the +Netherlands about eighty years ago, for $2,500, and is now in the +British Museum. The companion-piece, "St. John the Baptist Preaching +in the Wilderness," is now in the Brunswick Museum, and is carved with +a similar rich effect. This museum also contains a carving in wood, +representing the "Ecce Homo." + +Space would fail to tell of the many beautiful little pieces of +sculpture which Dürer executed in ivory, boxwood, and stone, or of the +numerous excellently designed medals ascribed to him. Chief among +these was the exquisite "Birth of Christ," and the altar of agate, +formerly at Vienna; Adam and Eve, in wood, at Gotha; reliefs of the +Birth and the Agony of Christ, in ivory; the Four Evangelists, in +boxwood, lately at Baireuth; several carvings on ivory, of religious +scenes, at Munich; a woman with padlocked mouth, sitting in the +stocks, cut in soapstone; a delicate relief of the Flight into Egypt; +busts of the Duke and Duchess of Burgundy; and the Love-Fountain, now +at Dresden, with figures of six persons drinking the water. + +The famous painting of "The Adoration of the Trinity" was finished in +1511, and represents God the Father holding up His crucified Son for +the worship of an immense congregation of saints, while overhead is +the mystic Dove, surrounded by a circle of winged cherubs' heads. The +kneeling multitude includes princes, prelates, warriors, burghers, and +peasants, equally accepting the Athanasian dogma. On the left is a +great group of female saints, led by the sweet and stately Virgin +Mary; and on the right are the kneeling prophets and apostles, Moses +with the tables of the Law, and David with his harp. On the broad +terrestrial landscape, far below, Dürer stands alone, by a tall tablet +bearing the Latin inscription of his name and the date of the picture. +The whole scene is full of light and splendor, delicate beauty of +angels, and exquisite minuteness of finish. A century later the Rath +of Nuremberg removed this picture from the sepulchral chapel of its +founder, and presented it to the Emperor Rudolph II. It is now one of +the gems of the Vienna Belvedere. + +About this time the master's brother Andreas, the goldsmith, returned +to Nuremberg after his long wanderings, and eased the evident anxiety +of his family by settling respectably in life. Hans was still in his +brother's studio, where he learned his art so well that he afterwards +became court-painter to the King of Poland. + +In 1511 Dürer published a third edition of the engravings of the +Apocalypse, with a warning to piratical engravers that the Emperor had +forbidden the sale of copies or impressions other than those of the +author, within the Empire, under heavy penalties to transgressors. To +the same year belong three of the master's greatest works in engraving +on wood. + +"The Great Passion" contains twelve folio woodcuts, unequal in +their execution, and probably made by different workmen of varying +abilities. The vignette is an "Ecce Homo;" and the other subjects are, +the Last Supper, Christ at Gethsemane, His Betrayal, the Scourging, +the Mockery, Christ Bearing the Cross, the Crucifixion, the Descent +into Hell, the Maries Mourning over Christ's Body, the Entombment, +and the Resurrection. These powerful delineations of the Agony of Our +Lord are characterized by rare originality of conception, pathos, +and grandeur. They were furnished with Latin verses by the monk +Chelidonius, and bore the imperial warning against imitation. Four +large editions were printed from these cuts, and numerous copies, +especially in Italy, where the Emperor's edict was inoperative. + +"The Little Passion" was a term applied by Dürer himself to +distinguish his series of thirty-seven designs from the larger +pictures of "The Great Passion." It is the best-known of the master's +engravings; and has been published in two editions at Nuremberg, a +third at Venice in 1612, and a fourth at London in 1844. The blocks +are now in the British Museum, and show plainly that they were not +engraved by Dürer. This great pictorial scene of the fall and +redemption of man begins with the sin of Adam and Eve, and their +expulsion from Eden, and follows with thirty-three compositions from +the life and passion of Christ, ending with the Descent of the Holy +Ghost and the Last Judgment. Its title was _Figuræ Passionis Domini +Nostri Jesu Christi_; and it was furnished with a set of the Latin +verses of Chelidonius. + +The third of Dürer's great works in wood-engraving was "The Life +of the Virgin," with explanatory Latin verses by the Benedictine +Chelidonius. This was published in 1511, and contains twenty pictures, +full of realistic plainness and domestic homeliness, yet displaying +marvellous skill and power of invention. To the same year belong the +master's engravings of the Trinity, St. Christopher, St. Gregory's +Mass, St. Jerome, St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata, the Holy Family +with the Guitar, Herodias and the Head of John the Baptist, and the +Adoration of the Magi; and the copper-plates of the Crucifixion and +the Virgin with the Pear. + +Dürer was much afflicted by the boldness of many imitators, who +plagiarized his engravings without stint, and flooded the market with +pictures from his designs. His rights were protected but poorly by the +edicts of the Emperor and the city of Nuremberg; and a swarm of +parasitical copyists reproduced every fresh design as soon as it was +published. Marc Antonio Raimondi, the great Italian engraver who +worked so many years with Raphael, was the most dangerous of these +plagiarists, and reproduced "The Little Passion" and "The Life of the +Virgin" in a most exquisite manner, close after their publication. +Vasari says, "It happened that at this time certain Flemings came to +Venice with a great many prints, engraved both in wood and copper by +Albert Dürer, which being seen by Marc Antonio in the Square of St. +Mark, he was so much astonished by their style of execution, and the +skill displayed by Albert, that he laid out on those prints almost all +the money he had brought with him from Bologna, and amongst other +things purchased 'The Passion of Jesus Christ,' engraved on thirty-six +wooden blocks.... Marc Antonio therefore, having considered how much +honor as well as advantage might be acquired by one who should devote +himself to that art in Italy, resolved to attend to it with the +greatest diligence, and immediately began to copy these engravings of +Albert, studying their mode of hatching, and every thing else in the +prints he had purchased, which from their novelty as well as beauty, +were in such repute that every one desired to possess them." + +It appears that Marc Antonio was afterwards enjoined from using +Dürer's monogram on his copies of the Nuremberger's engravings, either +by imperial diplomatic representations to the Italian courts, or else +as the result of a visit which some claim that Dürer made to Italy for +that purpose. Many of the copies of Marc Antonio were rather idealized +adaptations than exact reproductions of the German's designs, but were +furnished with the forged monogram A. D., and sold for Dürer's works. +Sixty-nine of our artist's engravings were copied by the skilful +Italian, profoundly influencing Southern art by the manual dexterity +of the North. This wholesale piracy was carried on between 1505 and +1511, and before Marc Antonio passed under Raphael's overmastering +influence. + +In later years the Rath of Nuremberg warned the booksellers of +the city against selling false copies of Dürer's engravings, and +sent letters to the authorities of Augsburg, Leipsic, Frankfort, +Strasbourg, and Antwerp, asking them to put a stop to such sales +within their jurisdictions. His works have been copied by more than +three hundred artists, the best of whom were Solis, Rota, the Hopfers, +Wierx, Vischer, Schön, and Kraus. + +In 1512 Dürer made most of the plates for "The Passion in Copper," a +series of sixteen engravings on copper, which was begun in 1507 and +finished in 1513. These plates show the terrible scenes of the last +griefs of the Saviour, surrounded with uncouth German men and women, +buildings and landscapes, yet permeated with mysterious reverence and +solemn simplicity. The series was never published in book form, with +descriptive text, but the engravings were put forth singly as soon as +completed. The prints of "Christ Bound" and "St. Jerome" were +published this same year. + +In 1512 Dürer was first employed by the Emperor Maximilian, who +was not only a patron of the arts but also an artist himself, and +munificently employed the best painters of Germany, though his +treasury was usually but poorly filled. Science and literature also +occupied much of his attention; and, while his realm was engaged in +perpetual wars, he kept up a careful correspondence on profound themes +with many of the foremost thinkers of his day. The records of his +intercourse with Dürer are most meagre, though during the seven years +of their connection they must have had many interviews, especially +while the imperial portrait was being made. + +Melanchthon tells a pretty story, which he heard from Dürer himself. +One day the artist was finishing a sketch for the Emperor, who, +while waiting, attempted to make a drawing himself with one of +the charcoal-crayons; but the charcoal kept breaking away, and he +complained that he could accomplish nothing with it. Dürer then took +it from his hand, saying, "This is my sceptre, your Majesty;" and +afterwards taught the sovereign how to use it. + +The story which is told of so many geniuses who have risen from low +estate is applied also to this one: The Emperor once declared to a +noble who had proudly declined to perform some trivial service for the +artist, "Out of seven ploughboys I can, if I please, make seven lords, +but out of seven lords I cannot make one Dürer." + +Tradition states that the Emperor ennobled Dürer, and gave him a +coat-of-arms. Possibly this was the crest used in his later years, +consisting of three shields on a blue field, above which is a closed +helmet supporting the armless bust and head of a winged negro! + +The idea of the immense woodcut of the Triumphal Arch of Maximilian +was conceived after 1512, either by the Emperor or by the +poet-laureate Stabius; and Dürer was chosen to put it into execution. +The history of the deeds of Maximilian, with his ancestry and family +alliances, was to be displayed in the form of a pictorial triumphal +arch, "after the manner of those erected in honor of the Roman +emperors." The master demanded payment in advance, and received an +order from the Emperor to the Rath of Nuremberg to hold "his and the +Empire's true and faithful Albert Dürer exempt from all the town taxes +and rates, in consideration of our esteem for his skill in art." But +he surrendered this immunity, in deference to the wishes of the Rath; +and Maximilian granted him an annual pension of 100 florins ($200), +which was paid, however, somewhat reluctantly. + +"The Knight, Death, and the Devil," is the most celebrated of Dürer's +engravings, and dates from 1513. It shows a panoplied knight riding +through a rocky defile, with white-bearded Death advancing alongside +and holding up an hour-glass, and the loathsome Satan pursuing +hard after and clutching at the undismayed knight. The numerous +commentators on this picture variously interpret its meaning, some +saying that the knight is an evil-doer, intent on wicked purposes, +whom Death warns to repentance, while Satan rushes to seize him; +others, and the most, that he is the Christian man, fearless among the +menaces of Death and Hell, and steadily advancing in spite of the +horrible apparitions. Others claim that the Knight represents Franz +von Sickingen, a turbulent hero of the Reformation; or Philip Ring, +the Nuremberg herald, who was confronted by the Devil on one of his +night-rides; or Dürer himself, beset by temptations and fears; or +Stephen Baumgärtner, the master's friend, whose portrait bears a +resemblance to the knight's face. Still another interpretation is +given in the romance of "Sintram and his Companions," which was +suggested by this engraving, as we are told by its author, La Motte +Fouqué. + +Kugler says: "I believe I do not exaggerate when I particularize this +print as the most important work which the fantastic spirit of German +art has ever produced." It was made in Dürer's blooming time, and the +plate is a wonderful specimen of delicate and exquisite execution. It +has frequently been copied, in many forms. + +"The Little Crucifixion" is one of the most exquisitely finished of +Dürer's engravings on copper, and is a small round picture, about one +inch in diameter, which was made for an ornament on the pommel of the +Emperor's sword. It contains seven figures, full of clearness and +individuality, and engraved with marvellous skill. There are, +fortunately, several very beautiful copies of this print. Other +copper-plates of 1513 were "The Judgment of Paris," and the small +round "St. Jerome." + +The famous Baumgärtner altar-piece was painted for the patrician +family of that name, as a votive picture, in thanksgiving for the safe +return of its knightly members from the Swiss campaigns. Nuremberg +unwillingly surrendered it to Maximilian of Bavaria, and it is now in +the Munich Pinakothek. It consists of a central picture of "The +Nativity," of no special merit, with two wings, the first of which +shows Stephen Baumgärtner, a meagre-faced and resolute knight, in the +character of St. George, while the other portrays the plain-mannered +and practical Lucas Baumgärtner, in the garb of St. Eustachius. These +excellent portrait-figures are clad in armor, and stand by the sides +of their horses. + +The "Vision of St. Eustachius" was executed on copper-plate, and is +one of Dürer's most delicate and beautiful works. It shows the +huntsman Eustachius as a strong and earnest German mystic, kneeling +before the miraculous crucifix set in the stag's forehead, which has +appeared to convict him of his sins, and to stimulate in him that +faith by which he led a new life of prayer and praise, and won a +martyr's crown. His solemn-faced horse seems to realize that a miracle +is taking place; and in the foreground are five delicately drawn +hounds. On the steep hill in the rear a noble and picturesque mediæval +castle rears its battlemented towers above long lines of cliffs. +Tradition says that the face of Eustachius is a portrait of the +Emperor Maximilian. When the Emperor Rudolph secured the original +plate of the engraving, he had it richly gilded. + +"The Great Fortune," or "The Nemesis," is a copper-plate showing a +repulsively ugly naked woman, with wings, holding a rich chalice and +a bridle, while on the earth below is a beautiful mountain village +between two confluent rivers. Sandrart says that this is the Hungarian +village of Eytas, where Dürer's father was born; but there is +no proof of this theory. "The Coat-of-Arms with the Cock" is a +fine copper-plate, with some obscure allegorical significance, +representing, perhaps, Vigilance by the cock which stands on a closed +helmet, and Faith by the rampant lion on the shield below. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +St. Jerome.--The Melencolia.--Death of Dürer's Mother.--Raphael. +--Etchings.--Maximilian's Arch.--Visit to Augsburg. + + +The copper-plate engraving of "St. Jerome in his Chamber" was executed +in 1514, and is one of Dürer's three greatest works, a marvel of +brilliancy and beauty, full of accurate detail and minute perfection. +The saint has a grand and venerable head, firmly outlined against a +white halo, and is sitting in a cheerful monastic room, lighted by the +sun streaming through two large arched windows, while he writes at his +desk, translating the Scriptures. In the foreground the lion of St. +Jerome is drowsing, alongside a fat watch-dog; a huge pumpkin hangs +from one of the oaken beams overhead; and patristic tomes and +convenient German utensils are scattered about the room. + +"The Virgin on the Crescent Moon" was a copper-plate executed also in +1514, showing the graceful and charming Mary, treated with an idealism +which almost suggests Raphael. This is one of the best of the +seventeen Mary-pictures (_Marien-bilder_) which Dürer executed in +copper. Other copper-plates of 1514 represented Sts. Paul and Thomas, +the Bagpipe-Player, and a Dancing Rustic and his Wife. + +"The Melencolia" is the most weirdly fascinating of Dürer's works, and +the most mysterious and variously interpreted. It represents a woman, +goddess, or devil, fully clad, and bearing keys and a purse at her +girdle, her head wreathed with spleenwort, and great wings springing +from her shoulders; the while she gazes intently, and with unutterable +melancholy, into a magic crystal globe before her. On one side a +drowsy Cupid is trying to write, near a ladder which rises from unseen +depths to unimagined heights; and on the wall are the balanced scales, +the astrological table of figures, the hour-glass running low, and the +silent bell. The floor is strewn with scientific and necromantic +instruments, and a great cube of strange form lies beyond. The +prevailing gloom of the picture is but dimly lighted by a lurid and +solitary comet, whose rays shimmer along an expanse of black ocean, +and are reflected from a firm-arched rainbow above. Across the +alternately black and blazing sky flies a horrible bat-winged +creature, bearing a scroll inscribed with the word MELENCOLIA, before +the blank negations symbolized by the disastrous portent of the comet +and the joyous sign of the rainbow. + +Under the guise of this mystic black-browed woman the artist probably +typifies the profound sorrow of the human soul, checked by Divine +limitations from attaining a full knowledge of the secrets of nature +or the wisdom of heaven. The discarded implements of natural and +occult science are alike useless; and nought remains but gloomy +introspection and a consciousness of insufficiency. + +Dürer describes his mother's death with mournful tenderness and +touching simplicity, saying: "Now you must know that in the year 1513, +on a Tuesday in Cross-week, my poor unhappy mother, whom I had taken +under my charge two years after my father's death, because she was +then quite poor, and who had lived with me for nine years, was taken +deathly sick on one morning early, so that we had to break open her +room; for we knew not, as she could not get up, what to do. So we bore +her down into a room, and she had the sacraments in both kinds +administered to her, for every one thought that she was going to die, +for she had been failing in health ever since my father's death. And +her custom was to go often to church; and she always punished me when +I did not act rightly, and she always took great care to keep me and +my brothers from sin; and, whether I went in or out, her constant word +was, 'In the name of Christ;' and with great diligence she constantly +gave us holy exhortations, and had great care over our souls. And her +good works, and the loving compassion that she showed to every one, I +can never sufficiently set forth to her praise. This my good mother +bore and brought up eighteen children; she has often had the +pestilence and many other dangerous and remarkable illnesses; has +suffered great poverty, scoffing, disparagement, spiteful words, +fears, and great reverses: yet she has never been revengeful. A year +after the day on which she was first taken ill ... my pious mother +departed in a Christian manner, with all sacraments, absolved by +Papal power from pain and sin. She gave me her blessing, and desired +for me God's peace, and that I should keep myself from evil. And she +desired also St. John's blessing, which she had, and she said she was +not afraid to come before God. But she died hard; and I perceived that +she saw something terrible, for she kept hold of the holy water, and +did not speak for a long time. I saw also how Death came, and gave her +two great blows on the heart; and how she shut her eyes and mouth, and +departed in great sorrow. I prayed for her, and had such great grief +for her that I can never express. God be gracious to her! Her greatest +joy was always to speak of God, and to do all to his honor and glory. +And she was sixty-three years old when she died, and I buried her +honorably according to my means. God the Lord grant that I also make a +blessed end, and that God with his heavenly hosts, and my father, +mother, and friend, be present at my end, and that the Almighty God +grant us eternal life! Amen. And in her death she looked still more +lovely than she was in her life." + +In 1514 the prince of Italian painters and the noblest of German +artists exchanged pleasant civilities by correspondence, accompanied +by specimens of their labors. Dürer sent to Raphael his own portrait, +which was afterwards inherited and dearly prized by Giulio Romano. +Raphael returned several of his own studies and drawings, one of +which, showing two naked men drawn in red crayon, is now preserved in +the Albertina at Vienna. It still bears Dürer's inscription: "Raphael +of Urbino, who is so highly esteemed by the Pope, has drawn this study +from the nude, and has sent it to Albert Dürer at Nuremberg, in order +to show him his hand." + +The invention of the art of etching has been generally attributed to +Dürer, though it now seems that he merely improved and perfected the +process. There are but few etchings in existence which can certainly +be ascribed to him; and the chief of these, an "Ecce Homo" and "Christ +in the Garden," date from 1515. The iron plate of the latter was found +two centuries later, in a blacksmith's shop, where it was about to be +made into horse-shoes. A third etching represents a frightfully +homely woman being carried off by a man on a unicorn, a wild and +incomprehensible composition, calculated to awaken an uncomfortable +impression in the beholder. Some of the etchings were on iron, and +others on pewter; but none were on copper, which was afterwards +universally used. The corrosive nitrous acid acted inefficiently on +the metals which he employed, and so his etchings fall short of +excellence. + +In 1514 Jorg Vierling uttered disgraceful libels and threats against +Dürer, and finally attacked him in the street. He was imprisoned by +the authorities; but the kind-hearted artist interceded for him, and +he was released, after being bound over to keep the peace. + +In the same year Dürer wrote to Herr Kress to see if the laureate +Stabius had done any thing about his delayed pension; saying also, +"But if Herr Stabius has done nothing in my matter, or my desire was +too difficult for him to attain, then I pray of you to be my favorable +lord to his Majesty.... Point out to his Majesty that I have served +his Majesty for three years, that I have suffered loss myself from +doing so, and that if I had not used my utmost diligence his +ornamental work would never have been finished in such a manner; +therefore I pray his Majesty to reward me with the 100 guilders." In +September an imperial decree was issued, giving Dürer his promised +pension of $200 a year out of the tax due from Nuremberg to the +Emperor. This annuity was paid to the artist until his death, with one +short intermission. + +Dürer executed for the Emperor a series of most fantastic and +grotesque pen-drawings, on the borders of his prayer-book, now in the +Munich town-library. Alongside the solemn sentences of the breviary +are whimsical monkeys and pigs, Indians and men-at-arms, satyrs and +foxes, screeching devils and saints, hens and prophets, martyrs and +German crones, mingled in a weird wonderland, and not inappropriate +according to mediæval ideas of taste. "The Great Column" is another +quaint and inexplicable engraving, which Dürer did for the Emperor in +1517, and is composed of four blocks 5-1/3 feet high. It shows two +naked angels holding a large turnip, from which springs a tall column +with two horrible female monsters at the base, and a horned satyr at +the top, holding long garlands. + +The marvellous "Triumphal Arch of Maximilian" is composed of +ninety-two blocks, forming an immense woodcut ten and a half feet high +and nine feet wide. It shows three great towers, under which are the +three gates of Praise, Nobility, and Honor and Power, with the six +chained harpies of temptation, and two vigilant Archdukes in armor, +and figures holding garlands and crowns. The great genealogical tree +rises above the figures that represent France, Sycambria, and Troy, +and bears portrait-like half-figures of the twenty-six Christian +princes from whom Maximilian claimed descent, with pictures of himself +and his family. There are also twenty-four minutely delicate cuts, +showing the most remarkable events in the Emperor's life, accompanied +with rugged explanatory rhymes by the poet-laureate. Dr. von Eye says +that "the extent and difficulty of the task appear to have called +forth the powers of the artist to their highest exercise. In no work +of Dürer's do we find more beautiful drawing than there is here. Each +single piece might be taken out and prized as an independent work of +art." + +The master drew these very elaborate and intricate designs between +1512 and 1515; and the enormous work of engraving them was devolved +upon Hieronymus Rösch of Nuremberg. During its progress the Emperor +frequently visited Rösch's house in the Fraüengässlein; and it became +a town saying, that "The Emperor still drives often to Petticoat +Lane." On one of his visits, a number of the artist's pet cats ran +into his presence; whence, it is said, arose the proverb, "A cat may +look at a King." + +In 1516 Dürer painted a fine portrait of Wohlgemuth, now at Munich, +showing a wrinkled old face lit up by bright eyes, and inscribed, +"This portrait has Albert Dürer painted after his master Michael +Wohlgemuth, in the year 1516, when he was 82 years old; and he lived +until the year 1519, when he died, on St. Andrew's Day, early, before +the sun had risen." About the same period he designed and partly +executed the Pietà, which is now in the St. Maurice Gallery at +Nuremberg; and carved a Virgin and Child standing on the crescent +moon, similar to the one which he had engraved three years before. + +In 1518 Dürer also painted the scene of the death-bed of the Empress +Mary of Burgundy, under the title of "The Death of the Virgin," and +on the order of Von Zlatko, the Bishop of Vienna. The Emperor +Maximilian, Philip of Spain, Bishop Zlatko, and other notables, were +shown around the couch. This large and important work was in the sale +of the Fries collection in 1822, but cannot now be found, although +there is a rumor that it is on the altar of a rural church near St. +Wolfgang's Lake, in Upper Austria. + +In 1518 Dürer visited Augsburg, during the session of the Diet of the +Empire, and not only sold many of his engravings, but made a number of +new sketches and portraits. His most important work on this journey +was a portrait of the Emperor, who gave an order on the town of +Nuremberg to pay 200 guldens "to the Emperor's and the Empire's dear +and faithful Albert Dürer." On this picture the master inscribed, +"This is the Emperor Maximilian, whom I, Albert Dürer, drew at +Augsburg, in his little room high up in the imperial residence, in the +year 1518, on the Monday after St. John the Baptist." About the same +time the master painted the unpleasant picture of "The Suicide of +Lucretia," now at Munich, showing an ill-formed nude woman of life +size, said to have been copied from Agnes Frey. The portrait of the +witty and learned Lazarus Spengler dates from the same year. + +When Maximilian died, the Rath of Nuremberg refused to continue the +pension which he had granted to Dürer, though the artist addressed its +members as "Provident, Honorable, Wise, Gracious, and Dear Lords," and +enumerated his services to the dead Emperor. He also vainly demanded +the payment of the imperial order for 200 florins, "to be paid to him +as if to Maximilian himself, out of the town taxes due to the Emperor +on St. Martin's Day," though he offered to leave his house in pledge, +so that the town might lose nothing if the new Emperor refused to +acknowledge the validity of the claim. + +At the time of the death of Maximilian the great woodcut of "The +Triumphal Arch" was unfinished, and the blocks remained in the hands +of the engraver. Dürer and Rösch published a large round cut +containing twenty-one of the historical scenes, as a memorial of the +late sovereign, and this singular production speedily went through +four editions. A few trial-impressions of the whole Arch had been +struck off before the Emperor's death, two of which are now at +Copenhagen, one in the British Museum, and one at Stockholm. In 1559 +the first edition of the entire Arch was printed at Vienna, at the +request of the Archduke Ferdinand, and another edition was issued by +Bartsch in 1799. + +In 1519 Dürer published an excellent wood-engraving of the late +Emperor Maximilian, with inscriptions recording his titles and the +date of his death. It showed a pleasant face, full of strength and +character. Among the painted portraits of Maximilian which are +attributed to the master, the best is in the Vienna Belvedere; and +another was in the late Northwick Collection, in England. A beautiful +portrait in water-colors is in the library of the Erlangen University. + +In 1519 Dürer also prepared an exquisitely finished copper-plate +engraving of "St. Anthony," showing the meditative hermit before a +background of a quaint mediæval city, very like Nuremberg, abounding +in irregular gable-roofs and tall castle-towers. Several admirable +copies of this work have been made. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Dürer's Tour in the Netherlands.--His Journal.--Cologne.--Feasts at +Antwerp and Brussels.--Procession of Notre Dame.--The _Confirmatia_. +--Zealand Journey.--Ghent.--Martin Luther. + + +Dürer's famous tour to the Netherlands began in the summer of 1520, +and continued until late in 1521. His main object appears to have been +to secure from Charles V. a confirmation of the pension which the +Emperor Maximilian had granted him, since the Rath of Nuremberg had +refused to deliver any further sums until he could obtain such a +ratification. Possibly he also hoped to obtain the position of +court-painter, to which Titian was afterwards appointed. Several +biographers say that Dürer made the journey in order to get a respite +from his wife's tirades; but this is unlikely, since he took her and +her maid Susanna with him. The Archduchess Margaret, daughter of the +late Emperor Maximilian and aunt of Charles V., was at Brussels, +acting as Regent of the Netherlands; and Dürer made strong but +ineffectual attempts to secure her good graces. + +Dürer's journal of his tour is a combination of cash account, +itinerary, memoranda, and notebook, and would fill about fifty of +these pages. It is usually barren of reflections, opinions, or +prolonged descriptions; and is but a terse and business-like record of +facts and expenses, rich only in its revelations of mediæval Flemish +hospitality and municipal customs, and certain personal habits of the +writer. The greatest impression seems to have been made upon the +traveller by the enormous wealth of the Low Countries, and the +adjective "costly" continually recurs. The new-found treasures of +America were then pouring a stream of gold into the Flemish cities, +and manufactures and commerce were in full prosperity. The devastating +storm of Alva's Spanish infantry had not yet swept over the doomed but +heroic Netherlands; and her great cities basked in peace, prosperity, +and wealth. + +"On the Thursday after Whitsuntide, I, Albert Dürer, at my own cost +and responsibility, set out with my wife from Nuremberg for the +Netherlands.... I went on to Bamberg, where I gave the Bishop a +picture of the Virgin, 'The Life of the Virgin,' an Apocalypse, +and other engravings of the value of a florin. He invited me to +dinner, and gave me an exemption from customs, and three letters of +recommendation." He hired a carriage to take him to Frankfort for +eight florins of gold, and received a parting stirrup-cup from Meister +Benedict, and the painter Hans Wolfgang Katzheimer. He gives the names +of the forty-three villages through which he passed along the route by +Würzburg and Carlstadt to Frankfort, with his expenditures for food +and for gifts to servants; and tells how the Bishop's letter freed him +from paying tolls. At Frankfort he was cheaply entertained by Jacob +Heller, for whom he had painted "The Coronation of the Virgin." From +thence he descended by boat to Mayence, where he received many gifts +and attentions. In the river-passages hence to Cologne, he was forced +to haul in shore and arrange his tolls at Ehrenfels, Bacharach, Caub, +St. Goar, and Boppart. At Cologne he was entertained by his cousin +Nicholas Dürer, who had learned the goldsmith's trade in the shop of +Albert's father, and was now settled in business. The master made +presents to him and his wife. The Barefooted Monks gave Dürer a feast +at their monastery; and Jerome Fugger presented him with wine. The +journey was soon resumed; and the master passed through fourteen +villages, and at last reached Antwerp, where he was feasted by the +factor of the illustrious Fugger family. Jobst Planckfelt was Dürer's +host while he remained in the city, and showed him the Burgomaster's +Palace and other sights of Antwerp, besides introducing him to Quentin +Matsys and other eminent Flemish artists. + +"On St. Oswald's Day, the painters invited me to their hall, with my +wife and maid; and every thing there was of silver and other costly +ornamentation, and extremely costly viands. There were also all their +wives there; and when I was conducted to the table all the people +stood up on each side, as if I had been a great lord. There were +amongst them also many persons of distinction, who all bowed low, +and in the most humble manner testified their pleasure at seeing me, +and they said they would do all in their power to give me pleasure. +And, as I sat at table, there came in the messenger of the Rath of +Antwerp, who presented me with four tankards of wine in the name of +the Magistrates; and he said that they desired to honor me with this, +and that I should have their good-will.... And for a long time we were +very merry together until quite late in the night; then they +accompanied us home with torches in the most honorable manner, and +they begged us to accept their good-will, and said they would do +whatever I desired that might be of assistance to me. Then I thanked +them, and went to bed." + +He next speaks of making portraits of his friend the Portuguese +consul, his host Planckfelt, and the musician Felix Hungersberg; +and keeps account of his sales of paintings and engravings, on the +same pages which record his junketings with various notable men. He +dined with one of the Imhoffs and with Meister Joachim Patenir, the +landscape-painter, with whom he had certain professional transactions. +He soon became intimately acquainted with the three Genoese brothers, +Tomasin, Vincent, and Gerhartus Florianus, with whom he dined many +times, and for whom he drew several portraits. He also met the great +scholar and half-way reformer, Erasmus, who gave him several pleasing +presents. + +"Our Lady's Church at Antwerp is so immensely big, that many masses +may be sung in it at one time without interfering with each other; and +it has altars and rich foundations, and the best musicians that it is +possible to have. The church has many devout services, and stone work, +and particularly a beautiful tower. And I have also been to the rich +Abbey of St. Michael, which has the costly stone seat in its choir. +And at Antwerp they spare no cost about such things, for there is +money enough there." + +He made portraits of Nicholas Kratzer, then professor of astronomy at +Oxford University; Hans Plaffroth; and Tomasin's daughter; and gave +several score of his engravings to the Portuguese consul and to his +compatriot Ruderigo, who had sent a large quantity of sweetmeats to +the artist, and a green parrot to his wife. + +Something of diplomatic tact is shown in Dürer's making presents to +Meister Gillgen, the Emperor's door-keeper, and to Meister Conrad, the +sculptor of the Archduchess Margaret. He seems to have been preparing +to seek an invitation to court. + +In September Dürer and Tomasin journeyed to Mechlin, where they +invited Meister Conrad and one of his artist-friends to a supper. The +next day they passed through Vilvorde, and came to Brussels. Here the +master was introduced to a new and splendid society and a city rich +in works of art. He speaks of dining with "My Lord of Brussels," the +Imperial Councillor Bannisius, and the ambassadors of Nuremberg; and +Bernard van Orley, formerly a pupil of Raphael and now court-painter +to the Regent Margaret, invited him to a feast at which he met the +Regent's treasurer, the royal court-master, and the town-treasurer of +Brussels. He also visited the Margrave of Anspach and Baireuth, with a +letter of introduction from the Bishop of Bamberg; and drew portraits +of Meister Conrad, Bernard van Orley, and several others. The Regent +Margaret received him "with especial kindness," and promised to use +her influence for his advancement at the imperial court. He presented +copies of the Passion to her and her treasurer, and many other +engravings to other eminent persons in the city. + +"And I have seen King Charles's house at Brussels, with its fountains, +labyrinth, and park. It gave me the greatest pleasure; and a more +delightful thing, and more like a Paradise, I have never before +seen.... At Brussels there is a very big and costly Town-hall, built +of hewn stone, with a splendid transparent tower. I have seen in the +Golden Hall the four painted matters which the great Meister Rudier +[Roger van der Weyden] has done.... I have also been into the +Nassau-house, which is built in such a costly style and so beautifully +ornamented. And I saw the two beautiful large rooms and all the costly +things in the house everywhere, and also the great bed in which fifty +men might lie; and I have also seen the big stone which fell in a +thunderstorm in the field close to the Count of Nassau. This house is +very high, and there is a fine view from it, and it is much to be +admired; and I do not think in all Germany there is any thing like +it.... Also I have seen the thing which has been brought to the King +from the new Golden Land [Mexico], a sun of gold a fathom broad, and a +silver moon just as big. Likewise two rooms full of armor; likewise +all kinds of arms, harness, and wonderful missiles, very strange +clothing, bed-gear and all kinds of the most wonderful things for +man's use, that are as beautiful to behold as they are wonderful. +These things are all so costly, that they have been valued at 100,000 +gulden. And I have never in all the days of my life seen any thing +that has so much rejoiced my heart as these things. For I have seen +among them wonderfully artistic things, and I have wondered at the +subtle _Ingenia_ of men in foreign lands." + +While at Brussels Dürer was the guest of Conrad the sculptor, and +Ebner the Nuremberg ambassador. He returned at length to Antwerp, +where his Portuguese friends sent him several maiolica bowls and some +Calcutta feathers, and his host gave also certain Indian and Turkish +curiosities. The jovial dinners with Planckfelt and Tomasin were again +begun, and were supplemented by feasts with the Von Rogendorffs and +Fugger's agent. The master gave away hundreds of his engravings here, +either to his friends or to influential courtiers; and all these +details he faithfully records. He seems to have been an indefatigable +investigator and collector of curiosities, imported trinkets, and +china. With childlike delight he narrates the brilliant spectacles +around him. + +"I have seen, on the Sunday after the Assumption of Our Blessed Lady, +the great procession from Our Lady's Church at Antwerp, when the whole +town was assembled, artisans and people of rank, every one dressed in +the most costly manner according to its station. Every class and every +guild had its badge by which it might be recognized; large and costly +tapers were also borne by some of them. There were also long silver +trumpets of the old Frankish fashion. There were also many German +pipers and drummers, who piped and drummed their loudest. Also +I saw in the street, marching in a line in regular order, with +certain distances between, the goldsmiths, painters, stonemasons, +embroiderers, sculptors, joiners, carpenters, sailors, fishmongers, +... and all kinds of artisans who are useful in producing the +necessaries of life. In the same way there were the shopkeepers and +merchants and their clerks. After these came the marksmen with +firelocks, bows, and cross-bows, some on horseback and some on foot. +After that came the City Guards; and at last a mighty and beautiful +throng of different nations and religious orders, superbly costumed, +and each distinguished from the other, very piously. I remarked in +this procession a troop of widows who lived by their labor. They all +had white linen cloths covering their heads, and reaching down to +their feet, very seemly to behold. Behind them I saw many brave +persons, and the canons of Our Lady's Church, with all the clergy +and bursars, where twenty persons bore Our Lady with the Lord Jesus +ornamented in the most costly manner to the glory of the Lord God. In +this procession there were many very pleasant things, and it was very +richly arranged. There were brought along many wagons, with moving +ships, and other things. Then followed the Prophets, all in order; the +New Testament, showing the Salutation of the Angel, the three Holy +Kings on their camels, and other rare wonders very beautifully +arranged.... At the last came a great dragon led by St. Margaret and +her maidens, who were very pretty; also St. George, with his squire, a +very handsome Courlander. Also a great many boys and girls, dressed in +the most costly and ornamental manner, according to the fashion of +different countries, rode in this troop, and represented so many +saints. This procession from beginning to end was more than two hours +passing by our house; and there were so many things that I could never +write them all down even in a book, and so I leave it alone." + +Raphael died during this year, and Dürer made strenuous efforts to +secure some of his drawings or other remains. He met Tommaso Vincidore +of Bologna, a pupil of the great master, and gave him an entire set of +his best engravings for an antique gold ring, and another set to be +sent to Rome in exchange for some of Raphael's sketches. He also gave +a complete set of his engravings to the Regent Margaret, and made for +her two careful drawings on parchment. Vincidore painted his portrait, +to be sent to Rome; and it was engraved by Adrian Stock, showing his +glorious eyes and long flowing hair, together with a short dense beard +overshadowed by a massive moustache, curled back at the points. + +Later in the autumn Dürer journeyed to Aix-la-Chapelle, where he +attended the splendid ceremonies of the coronation of the Emperor +Charles V. At Aix he saw the famous columns brought from Rome by +Charlemagne, the arm of Kaiser Henry, the chemise and girdle of the +Virgin Mary, and other relics. His wife was back at Antwerp; and so +the reckless artist chronicles his outlays for drinking, gaming, and +other reprehensible expenses. After being entertained for three weeks +at the Nuremberg embassy, Dürer went to Cologne, where he remained a +fortnight, distributing his engravings with generous hand, visiting +the churches and their pictures, and buying all manner of odd things. +Early in November, by the aid of the Nuremberg ambassadors, he +obtained from the Emperor his _Confirmatia_, "with great trouble and +labor." This coveted document, which formed one of the main objects +of his journey to the North, confirmed him in the pension which +Maximilian had granted him, and made him painter to the Emperor. + +From Cologne he returned with all speed down the river to Antwerp, +being entertained at Bois-le-Duc, "a pretty town, which has an +extraordinarily beautiful church," by the painter Arnold de Ber and +the goldsmiths, "who showed me very much honor." On arriving at +Antwerp, he resumes his accounts of the sales and gifts of his +engravings, and the enumeration of his domestic expenses. Soon +afterward he heard of a monstrous whale being thrown up on the +Zealand coast, and posted off in December to see it, taking a vessel +from Bergen-op-Zoom, of whose well-built houses and great markets he +speaks. "We sailed before sunset by a village, and saw only the points +of the roofs projecting out of the water; and we sailed for the island +of Wohlfärtig [Walcheren], and for the little town of Sunge in another +adjacent island. There were seven islands; and Ernig, where I passed +the night, is the largest. From thence we went to Middleburg, where I +saw in the abbey the great picture that Johann de Abus [Mabuse] had +done. The drawing is not so good as the painting. After that we came +to Fahr, where ships from all lands unload: it is a fine town. But at +Armuyden a great danger befell me; for just as we were going to land, +and our ropes were thrown out, there came a large ship alongside of +us, and I was about to land, but there was such a press that I let +every one land before me, so that nobody but I, Georg Kotzler, two old +women, and the skipper with one small boy, were left in the ship. And +when I and the above-named persons were on board, and could not get on +shore, then the heavy cable broke, and a strong wind came on, which +drove our ship powerfully before it. Then we all cried loudly for +help, but no one ventured to give it; and the wind beat us out again +to sea.... Then there was great anxiety and fear; for the wind was +very great, and not more than six persons on board. But I spoke to the +skipper, and told him to take heart, and put his trust in God, and +consider what there was to be done. Then he said he thought, if we +could manage to hoist the little sail, he would try whether we could +not get on. So with great difficulty, and working all together, we got +it half way up, and sailed on again; and when those on the land saw +this, and how we were able to help ourselves, they came and gave us +assistance, so that we got safely to land. Middleburg is a good town, +and has a very beautiful Town-house with a costly tower. And there are +also many things there of old art. There is an exceedingly costly and +beautiful seat in the abbey, and a costly stone aisle, and a pretty +parish church. And in other respects also the town is very rich in +subjects for sketches. Zealand is pretty and marvellous to see, on +account of the water, which is higher than the land." + +The tide had carried off the stranded whale; and so Dürer returned +to Antwerp, staying a few days at Bergen. Soon afterwards he gave +Von Rafensburg three books of fine engravings in return for five +snail-shells, nine medals, four arrows, two pieces of white coral, +two dried fish, and a scale of a large fish. Improvident collector +of curiosities! how did the matronly Agnes endure such tradings? +Many dinners with the Genoese Tomasin are then recorded, and fresh +collations with new friends, in the hearty and hospitable spirit of +the easy-living Netherlanders. He repaid the quaint presents of his +admirers with many copies of his engravings, and occasionally made +some money in the practice of his profession. + +"On Shrove Tuesday early the goldsmiths invited me and my wife to +dinner. There were many distinguished people assembled, and we had an +extremely costly meal, and they did me exceeding much honor; and in +the evening the senior magistrate of the town invited me, and gave me +a costly meal, and showed me much honor. And there came in many +strange masks." He then records his exchanges of engravings for such +singular returns as satin, candied citron, ivory salt-cellars from +Calcutta, sea-shells, monk's electuary, sweetmeats in profusion, +porcelains, an ivory pipe, coral, boxing-gloves, a shield, lace, +fishes' fins, sandal-wood, &c. The Portuguese ambassador invited him +to a rich Carnival feast, where there were "many very costly masks;" +and the learned Petrus Ægidius entertained him and Erasmus of +Rotterdam together. He climbed up the cathedral tower, and "saw over +the whole town from it, which was very agreeable." Many of the +curiosities which he had acquired were sent as presents to Pirkheimer, +the Imhoffs, the Holzschuhers, and other noble friends in Nuremberg. +Arion, the ex-Pensionary of Antwerp, gave him a feast, and presented +him with Patenir's painting of "Lot and his Daughters." + +Soon after Easter, Dürer made another pleasant tour in the +Netherlands, attended by the painter Jan Plos, passing by "the rich +Abbey of Pol," and "the great long village of Kahlb," to "the splendid +and beautiful town" of Bruges. Plos and the goldsmith Marx each gave +him costly feasts, and showed him the Emperor's palace, the Archery +Court, and many paintings by Roger van der Weyden, Hubert and Jan van +Eyck, and Hugo van der Goes, together with an alabaster Madonna by +Michael Angelo. "We came at last to the Painters' Chapel, where there +are many good things. After that they prepared a banquet for me. And +from thence I went with them to their guild, where many honorable +folk, goldsmiths, painters, and merchants, were assembled; and they +made me sup with them, and did me great honor. And the Rath gave me +twelve measures of wine; and the whole assembly, more than sixty +persons, accompanied me home with torches. + +"And when I arrived at Ghent, the chief of the painters met me, and +he brought with him all the principal painters of the town; and they +showed me great honor, and received me in very splendid style, and +they assured me of their good-will and service; and I supped that +evening with them. On Wednesday early they took me to St. John's +Tower, from which I saw over all the great and wonderful town. +After that I saw Johann's picture [Van Eyck's 'Adoration of the +Spotless Lamb']. It is a very rich and grandly conceived painting; +and particularly Eve, the Virgin Mary, and God the Father, are +excellent.... Ghent is a beautiful and wonderful town, and four great +waters flow through it. And I have besides seen many other very +strange things at Ghent, and the painters with their chief have never +left me; and I have eaten morning and night with them, and they have +paid for every thing, and have been very friendly with me." + +The master soon returned to Antwerp, in distress. "In the third +week after Easter a hot fever attacked me, with great faintness, +discomfort, and headache. And when I was in Zealand, some time back, a +wonderful illness came upon me, which I had never heard of any one +having before; and this illness I have still." This low fever never +quite left him, and was the cause of many doctor's bills thereafter. +Soon afterward he made a portrait of the landscape-painter Joachim +Patenir; and "on the Sunday before Cross-week, Meister Joachim invited +me to his wedding, and they all showed me much respect; and I saw two +very pretty plays there, particularly the first, which was very pious +and clerical." + +Dürer seems to have had strong Protestant sympathies, though it is +claimed that he died in the faith of Rome. His journal in 1521 +contains the following significant sentences about Martin Luther: "He +was a man enlightened by the Holy Ghost, and a follower of the true +Christian faith.... He has suffered much for Christ's truth, and +because he has rebuked the unchristian Papacy which strives against +the freedom of Christ with its heavy burdens of human laws; and for +this we are robbed of the price of our blood and sweat, that it may be +expended shamefully by idle, lascivious people, whilst thirsty and +sick men perish of hunger.... Lord Jesus Christ, call together again +the sheep of thy fold, of whom part are still to be found amongst the +Indians, Muscovites, Russians, and Greeks, who through the burdens and +avarice of the Papacy have been separated from us. Never were any +people so horribly burdened with ordinances as us poor people by the +Romish See; we who, redeemed by thy blood, ought to be free +Christians. + +"O God, is Luther dead? Who will henceforth explain to us so clearly +the holy Gospel? O all pious Christian men, bewail with me this +God-inspired man, and pray to God to send us another enlightened +teacher! O Erasmus of Rotterdam, where dost thou remain? Behold how +the unjust tyranny of this world's might and the powers of darkness +prevail! Hear, thou knight of Christ; ride forth in the name of the +Lord, defend the truth, attain the martyr's crown; thou art already an +old manikin, and I have heard thee say that thou gavest thyself only +two years longer in which thou wilt still be fit for work. Employ +these well, then, in the cause of the Gospel and the true Christian +faith." + +More junketings, gamings, collecting of outlandish things, visits to +religious and civic pageants, new sketches and paintings, doctor's +bills and monk's fees, minutely recorded. "Meister Gerhard, the +illuminator, has a daughter of eighteen years, called Susanna; and she +has illuminated a plate, a Saviour, for which I gave a florin. It is a +great wonder that a woman should do so well!... I have again and again +done sketches and many other things in the service of different +persons, and for the most part of my work I have received nothing at +all." + +After Corpus Christi Day, Dürer sent off several bales of his +acquisitions to Nuremberg, by the wagoner Cunz Mez. He and his wife +then went to Mechlin; "and the painters and sculptors entertained me +at my inn, and showed me great honor; and I went to Popenreuther's +house, the cannon-founder, and found many wonderful things there. I +have also seen the Lady Margaret [the Archduchess and Regent], and +carried the portrait of the Emperor, which I intended to present to +her; but she took such a displeasure therein, I brought it away with +me again. And on the Friday she showed me all her beautiful things, +and amongst them I saw forty small pictures in oil, pure and good: I +have never seen finer miniatures. And then I saw other good things of +Johann's [Van Eyck] and Jacob Walch's. I begged my Lady to give me +Meister Jacob's little book, but she said she had promised it to her +painter." + +Dürer seems to have been treated with scant courtesy by the +Archduchess, and soon returned to Antwerp. Here he was entertained +by the eminent Lucas van Leyden, for whom he made a portrait, and +received one of himself in return. The stately Nuremberger and the +diminutive artist of Leyden were much astonished at each other's +personal appearance, but had a warm mutual respect and esteem. Dürer +next struck up a warm friendship with certain of the Augustine monks, +and dined often at their cloister. In addition to the _bric-à-brac_ +which he still continued to collect, he now began to buy precious +stones, in which he was badly swindled by a Frenchman, and dolefully +wrote, "I am a fool at a bargain." + +He was now about to return home, and naturally found it necessary, +after having bought such a museum of oddities and curiosities, to +borrow enough money to take him to Nuremberg. His friend Alexander +Imhoff lent him 100 gold florins, receiving Dürer's note in return. In +some bitterness of spirit he wrote: "In all my transactions in the +Netherlands, with people both of high and low degree, and in all my +doings, expenses, sales, and other trafficking, I have always had the +disadvantage; and particularly the Lady Margaret, for all I have given +her and done for her, has given me nothing in return." + +On the eve of Dürer's departure, the King of Denmark, Christian II., +came to Antwerp, and not only had the master draw his portrait, but +also invited him to a dinner. He then went to Brussels, on business +for his new royal patron, and was present at the pompous reception and +banquet with which the Emperor and the Archduchess Margaret received +the Danish King. Soon afterwards the King invited Dürer to the feast +which he gave to the Emperor and Archduchess; and then had his +portrait painted in oil-colors, paying thirty florins for it. After a +sojourn of eight days in Brussels, the master and his wife went south +to Cologne, spending four long days on the road; and soon afterwards +prolonged their journey to Nuremberg. + +The municipality of Antwerp had offered him a house and a liberal +pension, to remain in that city; but he declined these, being content +with his prospects and his noble friends in Franconia. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + Nuremberg's Reformation.--The Little Masters.--Glass-Painting. + --Architecture.--Letter to the City Council.--"Art of Mensuration." + --Portraits.--Melanchthon. + + +What a commotion must Dürer's return have caused in Nuremberg, with +his commission as court-painter, and his bales and crates of rarities +from America and India and all Europe! The presents which he had +brought for so many of his friends must have given the liveliest +delight, and afforded amusement for months to the Sodalitas Literaria +and the Rath-Elders. + +In the mean time the purifying storm of the Reformation was sweeping +over Germany, and the people were in times of great doubt and +perplexity. Nuremberg was the first of the free cities of the Empire +to pronounce herself Protestant, though the change was effected with +so much order and moderation that no iconoclastic fury was allowed to +dilapidate its churches and convents. Pirkheimer and Spengler were +excommunicated by the Pope, though their calm conservatism had +curbed the fanatical fury of the puritans, and saved the Catholic +art-treasures of the Franconian capital. + +It is a significant fact that Dürer, during the last six years of his +life, made no more Madonnas, and but one Holy Family. The era of +Mariolatry had passed, so far as Nuremberg was concerned. Yet, during +the year of his return from the Netherlands, he made two engravings of +St. Christopher bearing the Holy Child safely above the floods and +through the storms, as if to indicate that Christianity would be +carried through all its disasters by an unfailing strength. + +During the remaining six years of his life Dürer's art-works were +limited to a few portraits and engravings, and the great pictures of +the Four Apostles. Much of his time was devoted to the publication of +the fruits of his long experience, in several literary treatises, most +of which are now lost. His broken health would not allow of continuous +work, as the inroads of insidious disease slowly wasted his strength +and ate away his vitality. + +The Little Masters were a group of artists who were formed in +the studio or under the influence of Dürer, shining as a bright +constellation of genius in the twilight of German art. Among these +were the Bavarian Altdorfer, who combined in his brilliant paintings +and engravings both fantasy and romanticism; the Westphalian +Aldegrever, a laborious painter and a prolific engraver; Barthel +Beham, who afterwards studied with and counterfeited the works of +Marc Antonio in Italy; Hans Sebald Beham, who illustrated lewd +fables and prayer books with equal skill and relish, and was finally +driven from Nuremberg; Jacob Binck of Cologne, a neat and accurate +draughtsman, who removed to Rome, and engraved Raphael's works under +the supervision of Marc Antonio; George Pensz, who also studied under +the great Italian engraver, and executed 126 fine prints, besides +several paintings. Other assistants and pupils of Dürer, of whom +little but their names are now remembered, were Hans Brosamer of Fulda, +and Hans Springinklee. Hans von Culmbach was a careful follower, who +surpassed his master in love of nature and her warm and harmonious +colors. The Tucher altar-piece in St. Sebald's Church was his +master-picture. Contemporary with the Nuremberg painter, Matthew +Grunewald was doing excellent work at Aschaffenburg, in northern +Franconia. Among the German artists of his time, he was surpassed +only by Dürer and Holbein. + +The Diet of the Empire was held at Nuremberg in 1522, and the +Rath-haus was repainted and decorated for its sessions. Dürer was paid +100 florins for his share in this work, although it is not known what +it was. The best of the paintings were executed by his pupil, George +Pensz, and it is probable that the master furnished some of the +designs. + +Although our artist held a pension from the Emperor as his +court-painter, his services seem to have never been called into +requisition. Charles spent but little time at Nuremberg, and while yet +in his youth had no care for seeing himself portrayed on canvas. It +was after the master's death that the Emperor first met Titian, and +retained him as court-painter. + +In 1522 Dürer published at his own cost the first edition of the +Triumphal Car of Kaiser Maximilian, a woodcut whose labored and +ponderous allegorical idea was conceived by Pirkheimer, designed +in detail by Dürer, and engraved by Rösch on eight blocks, forming +a picture 7-1/2 feet long by 1-1/2 feet high. The Emperor is shown +seated in a chariot, surrounded by female figures representing the +abstract virtues, while the leaders of the twelve horses, and even +the wheels and reins, have magniloquent Latin names. Maximilian was +greatly interested in this work, but died before its completion. The +first edition was accompanied by explanatory German text, and the +second by Latin descriptions. + +The large woodcut of Ulrich Varnbühler, whom Dürer calls his "single +friend," is one of the master's best works, and was printed over with +three blocks, to produce a chiaroscuro. A little later, he made two +copper-plates of the Cardinal Archbishop Albert of Magdeburg and +Mayence. + +In 1523, while under the influence of the art-schools of the Lower +Rhine, the master painted the pictures of Sts. Joachim and Joseph and +St. Simeon and Bishop Lazarus, small figures on a gold ground. + +Dürer's Family Relation records that, "My dear mother-in-law took ill +on Sunday, Aug. 18, 1521; and on Sept. 29, at nine of the night, she +died piously. And in 1523, on the Feast of the Presentation, early in +the morning, died my father-in-law, Hans Frey. He had been ill for six +years, and had his share of troubles in his time." They were buried in +St. John's Cemetery, in the same lot where the remains of their +illustrious son-in-law were afterwards laid. + +It is said that Dürer largely occupied himself with glass-painting, +during the earlier part of his career; and he probably designed much +for the workers in stained glass then in Upper Germany and the Low +Countries. Lacroix says that he produced twenty windows for the Temple +Church at Paris; and Holt attributes to him the church-windows at +Fairford, near Cirencester. + +As an architect Albert executed but few works, and only a slight +record remains to our day. He made two plans for the Archduchess +Margaret, and another for the house of her physician. Heideloff has +proved that the gallery of the Gessert house at Nuremberg was built by +Dürer, in a strange combination of geometric and Renaissance forms. + +Pirkheimer's portrait was engraved in 1524, showing a gross and heavy +face, obese to the last degree, and verifying in its physiognomy the +probability that the playful innuendoes in Dürer's Venetian letters +were well grounded. It is not easy to see how such a spirit, learned +in all the sciences of the age, and in close communion with Erasmus, +Melanchthon, and Ulrich von Hutten, could have worn such a drooping +mask of flesh. In the same year, Dürer published an engraved portrait +of Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, the supporter of Luther and +the political leader of the Reformation. The head is admirably drawn +and full of character, with firmness plainly indicated by strongly +compressed lips. + +The following letter to the Council of Nuremberg was written in the +year 1524:-- + + "Provident, Honorable, Wise, and Most Favorable Lords,--By my + works and with the help of God, I have acquired 1,000 florins + of the Rhine, and I would now willingly lay them by for my + support. Although I know that it is not the custom with your + Wisdoms to pay high interest, and that you have refused to + give one florin in twenty; yet I am moved by my necessity, by + the particularly favorable regard which your Wisdoms have + ever shown towards me, and also by the following causes, to + beg this thing of your Honors. Your Wisdoms know that I have + always been obedient, willing, and diligent in all things + done for your Wisdoms, and for the common State, and for + other persons of the Rath, and that the State has always had + my help, art, and work, whenever they were needed, and that + without payment rather than for money; for I can write with + truth, that, during the thirty years that I have had a house + in this town, I have not had 500 guldens' worth of work from + it, and what I have had has been poor and mean, and I have + not gained the fifth part for it that it was worth; but all + that I have earned, which God knows has only been by hard + toil, has been from princes, lords, and other foreign + persons. Also I have expended all my earnings from foreigners + in this town. Also your Honors doubtless know that, on + account of the many works I had done for him, the late + Emperor Maximilian, of praiseworthy memory, out of his own + imperial liberality granted me an exemption from the rates + and taxes of this town, which, however, I voluntarily gave + up, when I was spoken to about it by the Elders of the Rath, + in order to show honor to my Lords, and to maintain their + favor and uphold their customs and justice. + + "Nineteen years ago the Doge of Venice wrote to me, offering + me 200 ducats a year if I would live in that city. More + lately the Rath of Antwerp, while I remained in the Low + Countries, also made me an offer, 300 florins of Philippe a + year, and a fair mansion to live in. In both places all that + I did for the Government would have been paid over and above + the pension. All of which, out of my love for my honorable + and wise Lords, for this town, and for my Fatherland, I + refused, and chose rather to live simply, near your Wisdoms, + than to be rich and great in any other place. It is therefore + my dutiful request to your Lordships, that you will take all + these things into your favorable consideration, and accept + these thousand florins (which I could easily lay out with + other worthy people both here and elsewhere, but which I + would rather know were in the hands of your Wisdoms), and + grant me a yearly interest upon them of fifty florins, so + that I and my wife, who are daily growing old, weak, and + incapable, may have a moderate provision against want. And I + will ever do my utmost to deserve your noble Wisdoms' favor + and approbation, as heretofore." + +This touching letter shows the poverty of Dürer's savings, and his +sad feeling that he had lived as a prophet without honor in his own +country. It produced the desired effect, and brought him five per cent +on his little capital, though after his death the Council hastened to +reduce it to four per cent. + +Dürer's wide study and remarkable versatility, rivalling that of +Leonardo da Vinci, found further expression in literary work. +Camerarius states that he wrote a hundred and fifty different +treatises, showing a marked proficiency in several of the sciences. +His first work was entitled "Instruction in the Art of Mensuration," +&c., and was published in 1525 for the use of young painters. It is +composed of four books, treating of the practical use of geometrical +instruments, and the drawing of volutes, Roman letters, and winding +stairs; and is illustrated by numerous woodcuts. The fourth book +elucidates the idea of perspective, and contains pictures of an +instrument devised by the author, "which will be found particularly +useful to persons who are not sure of drawing correctly." This was not +the only invention of Dürer's; for there still exists a small model of +a gun-carriage in wood and iron, made by him, and exhibiting certain +improvements which he had designed and advocated. "The Art of +Mensuration" was a successful book, and passed through one Latin and +three German editions. + +The finest of Dürer's works in portraiture was executed in 1526, and +represents the grand old Jerome Holzschuher, one of the chief rulers +of the city, with all the strength and keenness of his heroic nature +lighting up the canvas. Enormous sums have been offered for this work; +but it is still faithfully preserved in Nuremberg, and retains its +original rich and vivid coloring. Another fine portrait, "like an +antique bust," now in the Vienna Belvedere, shows Johann Kleeberger, +the generous and charitable man who was known abroad as "the good +German." Still another portrait of this year was that of the +Burgomaster Jacob Müffel, a well-modelled and carefully executed +likeness of one of the master's best friends. Two very famous +engravings of this date portray Erasmus of Rotterdam and Philip +Melanchthon. Erasmus is represented as a venerable scholar, sitting +at a desk, with a pen in his hand and a soft cap on his head; and +the engraving is remarkable for its admirable execution and strong +character. Still, the old philosopher was not pleased with it, and +sent to Sir Thomas More his portrait by Holbein, which, he said, "is +much more like me than the one by the famous Albert Dürer." When +Erasmus first saw the picture he said, "Oh! if I still resemble that +Erasmus, I may look out for getting married," as if it gave him too +young an appearance. + +In 1526 the wise and noble-hearted Melanchthon came to Nuremberg +to establish a Protestant Latin school, and formed a close intimacy +with the master, whose tender and dreamy spirit was so like his own. +During their constant intercourse, the artist became strengthened and +comforted in the mild and pure doctrines of the true reformation, and +was quietly yet strongly influenced to abandon even the forms of +Catholicism which still remained. Dürer published a fine engraving of +this friend of his last years on earth, showing delicately-chiselled +features, with large and tender eyes and a lofty forehead. + +Melanchthon wrote that in one of his frequent conversations with +Dürer, the artist explained the great change which his methods had +undergone, saying, "In his youth he was fond of a florid style and +great combination of colors, and that in looking at his own work he +was always delighted to find this diversity of coloring in any of his +pictures; but afterwards in his mature years he began to look more +entirely to nature, and tried to see her in her simplest form. Then he +found that this simplicity was the true perfection of art; and, not +attaining this, he did not care for his works as formerly, but often +sighed when he looked at his pictures and thought of his incapacity." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + "The Four Apostles."--Dürer's Later Literary Works.--Four Books of + Proportion.--Last Sickness and Death.--Agnes Dürer.--Dürer described + by a Friend. + + +Schlegel says that "Albert Dürer may be called the Shakespeare of +Painting;" and it is doubtless true that he filled out the narrow +capabilities of early German art with a full measure of deep and +earnest thought and powerful originality. The equal homage which was +offered to him at Venice and Antwerp, the two art-antipodes, shows how +highly he was regarded in his own day. His earlier works were executed +in the crude and angular methods of Wohlgemuth and his contemporaries; +and most of the pictures now attributed to him, often incorrectly, are +of this character. But in his later works he swung clear of these +trammelling archaisms, and produced brilliant and memorable +compositions. + +"The Four Apostles," now in the Munich Pinakothek, were Dürer's last +and noblest works, and fairly justify Pirkheimer's assurance, that if +he had lived longer the master would have done "many more wonderful, +strange, and artistic things." They are full of grand thought and +clear insight, free from exaggeration or conventionalism, perfect in +execution and harmonious simplicity, and so distinct in individuality +that it has been generally believed that the Four Temperaments are +here impersonated. On one panel are Sts. John and Peter, in life-size, +the former deeply meditating, with the Scriptures in his hand, and the +latter bending forward and earnestly reading the Holy Book. The other +panel shows the stately St. Paul, robed in white, standing before the +ardent and impassioned St. Mark. Kugler calls these panels "the first +complete work of art produced by Protestantism;" and the truth and +simplicity of the paintings prefigured the return of a pure and +incorrupt faith. + +Late in 1526, Dürer sent these pictures to the Rath of Nuremberg, with +the following letter: "Provident, Honorable, Wise, Dear Lords,--I have +been for some time past minded to present your Wisdoms with something +of my unworthy painting as a remembrance; but I have been obliged to +give this up on account of the defects of my poor work, for I knew +that I should not have been well able to maintain the same before your +Wisdoms. During this past time, however, I have painted a picture, +and bestowed more diligence upon it than upon any other painting; +therefore I esteem no one worthier than your Wisdoms to keep it as +a remembrance; on which account I present the same to you herewith, +begging you with humble diligence to accept my little present +graciously and favorably, and to be and remain my favorable and dear +Lords, as I have always hitherto found you. This, with the utmost +humility, I will sedulously endeavor to merit from your Wisdoms." + +The Rath eagerly accepted this noble gift, and hung the two panels in +the Rath-haus, sending also a handsome present of money to Dürer and +his wife. A century afterwards Maximilian of Bavaria saw and coveted +the pictures, and used bribery and threats alike to secure them. In +1627 he accomplished his purpose; and the Rath, fearful of his wrath +and dreading his power, sent the panels to Munich. + +The woodcut portrait of Dürer, dated 1527, shows the worn face of a +man of fifty-six years, whose life has been stormy and sometimes +unhappy. It is much less beautiful than the earlier pictures, for his +long flowing hair and beard have both been cut short, perhaps on +account of sickness, or in deference to the new puritan ideas. The +face is delicate and melancholy, and seems to rest under the shadow of +approaching death, which is to be met with a calm and simple faith. + +His second book, entitled "Some Instruction in the Fortification of +Cities, Castles, and Towns," appeared in 1527, and was dedicated to +Ferdinand I., and adorned with several woodcuts. In this the artist +showed the same familiarity with the principles of defensive works +as his great contemporaries Leonardo da Vinci and Michael Angelo +had done. Much attention is paid to the proper sheltering of heavy +artillery from hostile shot; and the plans of the towers and bastions +about Nuremberg, which were built after Dürer's death, were suggested +in this work. A large contemporary woodcut by the master shows the +siege of a city, with cannon playing from the bastions, and the +garrison making a sortie against the enemy. + +The celebrated "Four Books of Human Proportion" was Dürer's greatest +literary work, and was completed about this time, having been begun +in 1523. Its preparation was suggested by Pirkheimer, to whom it was +dedicated, and who published it after the author's death, with a long +Latin elegy on him. Great labor was bestowed on this work, and many of +the original sketches and notes are still preserved. The first and +second books show the correct proportions of the human body and its +members, according to scale, dividing the body into seven parts, each +of which has the same measurement as the head, and then considering +it in eighths. The proportions of children are also treated of; and +the dogma is formulated, that the woman should be one-eighteenth +shorter than the man. The third book is devoted to transposing or +changing these proportions, and contains examples of distorted and +unsymmetrical figures; and the fourth book treats of foreshortening, +and shows the human body in motion. In his preface he says: "Let no +one think that I am presumptuous enough to imagine that I have written +a wonderful book, or seek to raise myself above others. This be far +from me! for I know well that but small and mediocre understanding +and art can be found in the following work." + +The high appreciation in which this book was held appears from the +fact that it passed through several German editions, besides three +Latin, two Italian, two French, Portuguese, Dutch, and English +editions. Most of the original MS. is now in the British Museum. + +Among Dürer's other works were treatises on Civic Architecture, Music, +the Art of Fencing, Landscape-Painting, Colors, Painting, and the +Proportions of the Horse. + +But the year 1527 was nearly barren of new art-works; for the master's +hand was losing its power, and his busy brain had grown weary. His +constitution was slowly yielding before the fatal advances of a +wasting disease, possibly the low fever which he had contracted in +Zealand, or it may have been an affection of the lungs. In the latter +days he made a memorandum: "Regarding the belongings I have amassed by +my own handiwork, I have not had a great chance to become rich, and +have had plenty of losses; having lent without being repaid, and my +work-people have not reckoned with me; also my agent at Rome died, +after using up my property. Half of this loss was thirteen years ago, +and I have blamed myself for losses contracted at Venice. Still we +have good house-furnishing, clothing, costly things as earthenware +[maiolica], professional fittings-up, bed-furnishings, chests, and +cabinets; and my stock of colors is worth 100 guldens." + +The last design of the master was a drawing on gray paper, showing +Christ on the Cross. When this was all completed except the face of +the Divine sufferer, the artist was summoned by Death, and ascended to +behold in glory the features which he had so often portrayed under the +thorns. + +A violent attack of his chronic disease prostrated him so far that he +was unable to rally; and after a brief illness he passed gently away, +on the 6th of April, 1528. It was the anniversary of the day on which +Raphael died, eight years before. His friends were startled and +grief-stricken at his sudden death, which came so unexpectedly that +even Pirkheimer was absent from the city. It was long supposed that he +died of the plague, on the evidence of a portrait-drawing of himself, +showing him pointing to a discolored plague-spot on his side, and +inscribed, "Where my fingers point, there I suffer." It was said that +this sketch was for the information of his doctor, who dared not visit +the pestilence-stricken sick-chamber. But this hypothesis is no longer +considered tenable. + +The remains of the master were buried in the lot of his father-in-law, +Hans Frey, at the Cemetery of St. John, beyond the walls; and his +monument bore Pirkheimer's simple epitaph: "ME. AL. DU. QUICQUID +ALBERTI DURERI MORTALE FUIT, SUB HOC CONDITUR TUMULO. EMIGRAVIT VIII +IDUS APRILIS, MDXXVIII. A.D." + +On Easter Sunday, 1828, the third centenary of his death, a great +procession of artists and scholars from all parts of Germany moved in +solemn state from Nuremberg to the grave of Dürer, where they sang +hymns. + + In the valley of the Pegnitz, where across broad meadowlands + Rise the blue Franconian mountains, Nuremberg the + ancient stands. + + Quaint old town of toil and traffic, quaint old town of + art and song, + Memories haunt thy pointed gables, like the rooks that + round them throng. + + Memories of the Middle Ages, when the emperors rough + and bold + Had their dwelling in thy castle, time-defying, centuries + old; + + And thy brave and thrifty burghers boasted, in their + uncouth rhyme, + That their great imperial city stretched its hand through + every clime. + + In the courtyard of the castle, bound with many an iron + band, + Stands the mighty linden planted by Queen Cunigunde's + hand; + + On the square the oriel window, where in old heroic days + Sat the poet Melchior singing Kaiser Maximilian's praise. + + Everywhere I see around me rise the wondrous world of + Art, + Fountains wrought with richest sculpture standing in the + common mart; + + And above cathedral doorways, saints and bishops carved in + stone, + By a former age commissioned as apostles to our own. + + In the church of sainted Sebald sleeps enshrined his holy + dust, + And in bronze the Twelve Apostles guard from age to age + their trust: + + In the church of sainted Lawrence stands a pix of sculpture + rare, + Like the foamy sheaf of fountains, rising through the painted + air. + + Here, when Art was still religion, with a simple, reverent + heart, + Lived and labored Albrecht Dürer, the Evangelist of Art; + + Hence in silence and in sorrow, toiling still with busy hand, + Like an emigrant he wandered, seeking for the Better Land. + + _Emigravit_ is the inscription on the tombstone where he + lies: + Dead he is not, but departed, for the artist never dies. + + LONGFELLOW. + +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. + + "It is very surprising in regard to that man, that in a + rude and barbarous age he was the first of the Germans who + not only arrived at an exact imitation of nature, but has + likewise left no second; being so absolute a master of it in + all its parts,--in etching, engraving, statuary, + architecture, optics, symmetry, and the rest,--that he had + no equal except Michael Angelo Buonarotti, his contemporary + and rival; and he left behind him such works as were too + much for the life of one man."--JOHN ANDREAS. + +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 [Greek: Tetragônon], 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. + +_Beloeil_ (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 Coeli Septentrionalis; Imagines +Coeli 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. + + + _Adam and Eve,_ 45, 57. + _Adoration of the Kings,_ 45. + _Adoration of the Trinity,_ 62, 68. + Aix-la-Chapelle, 105. + Aldegrever, 120. + Altdorfer, 120. + Antwerp, 97, 106, 117, 126. + -- Cathedral, 99, 110. + Architectural Works, 123. + Art of Mensuration, 127. + Augsburg, 91. + + Bamberg, 44, 96. + Basle, 26. + Baumgärtner, 14, 39, 52, 77, 78. + Behaim, Martin, 12. + Beham, 120. + Beheim, Hans, 11. + Bellini, Giovanni, 48, 50. + Bergen-op-Zoom, 107, 109. + Bernard van Orley, 100. + Binck, 120. + _Birth of St. John,_ 66. + Bois-le-Duc, 106. + Bruges, 110. + Brussels, 100. + Bullman, 12. + + _Calvary,_ 45. + Camerarius, 14, 145. + Carvings, 57, 66. + Celtes, Conrad, 13. + Chelidonius, 13, 70, 71. + Coat-of-Arms, 49, 75. + Colmar, 23, 26. + Cologne, 96, 106, 117. + Colvin, Sidney, 34. + Confirmatia, The, 106. + _Coronation of the Virgin,_ 61. + + Danger at Sea, 107. + Death of Parents, 40, 83. + _Death of the Virgin,_ 90. + Delayed Pensions, 87, 92. + Denmark's King, 116. + Drawings, 42. + Dürer, Albert, the Elder, 15, 20, 23, 40. + -- Agnes, 28, 52, 54, 142. + -- Andreas, 16, 41, 53, 68. + -- Anthony, 15. + -- Barbara, 15, 41, 83. + -- Hans, 41, 51, 69. + -- Nicholas, 96. + Dürer's House, 63. + -- Marriage, 28. + -- Poetry, 64. + -- Portraits, 27, 36, 39, 105, 134. + + Early Drawings, 19. + Engravings, 31, 60. + Erasmus, 99, 110, 114, 129. + Etchings, 86. + Eytas, 15, 79. + + Fever, The, 112. + Flemish Feasts, 97, 109, 111. + Flemish Wealth, 95. + Fortifications, Treatise on, 134. + _Four Apostles, The,_ 131. + Francia, 55. + Frey Family, 29, 123. + + Ghent, 111. + Glass-Painting, 123. + _Great Column, The,_ 88. + _Great Passion, The,_ 69. + _Green Passion, The,_ 42. + Grunewald, 121. + + Haller Family, 15. + Heller, Jacob, 58, 59, 96. + _Holzschuher,_ 128. + Human Proportions, 135. + + Imhoff Collection, The, 43. + Inventions, 128. + + Karl, Eucharius, 39, 52. + _Knight, Death, etc.,_ 76. + Koberger, 9, 17. + Kornelisz, 12. + Kraft, 11. + + Landäuer, 62. + Letters to the Rath, 124, 132. + _Life of the Virgin,_ 71. + Lindenast, 11. + Literary Work, 127. + _Little Crucifixion, The,_ 78. + Little Masters, 120. + _Little Passion, The,_ 70. + + Mantegna, 24, 56. + Marc Antonio, 71. + Margaret, Archduchess, 94, 100, 105, 115. + Martin Luther, 113. + _Martyrdom, The,_ 59. + Maximilian, Emperor, 74, 76, 89, 91, 93, 122. + Mechlin, 100, 115. + Melanchthon, 75, 129. + _Melencolia, The,_ 82. + Middleburg, 107, 108. + + Netherland Journey, 94. + Nuremberg, 7, 118, 139. + + _Passion, The Great,_ 69. + -- _The Green,_ 42. + -- _The Little,_ 70. + -- _Song,_ 65. + -- _in Copper,_ 74. + Patenir, 98, 112. + Pensz, George, 120, 121. + Perugino, 24. + Piratical Engravers, 69, 71. + Pirkheimer, 17, 30, 39, 43, 44, 48, 64, 110, 119, 124, 135, 137, 141. + Prayer-Book, Max's, 88. + Procession, The, 103. + + Raphael, 56, 85, 105, 144. + Regiomontanus, 10. + _Rose-Garlands, Feast of,_ 53, 54. + Ruskin Quoted, 46, 56. + + Sachs, Hans, 14. + _St. Anthony,_ 93. + _St. Eustachius,_ 79. + _St. Jerome,_ 81. + Schongauer, 23. + Silver-Work, 20. + Sketch-Books, 44. + Spengler, 39, 65, 92, 119. + Stein, 47. + Stoss, Veit, 11. + Strasbourg, 26. + + Teacher, The (Poem), 65. + Tomasin, 98, 100, 109. + _Triumphal Arch,_ 75, 88, 92. + _Triumphal Car,_ 121. + + Van Leyden, Lucas, 115. + Vasari Quoted, 72. + Venetian Journey, 47. + Venice, 47, 56, 126. + Vincidore, 105. + Vischer, Peter, 11. + Von Culmbach, 120. + + Walch, Jacob, 13, 115. + Wander-jahre, The, 25, 50. + Water-Marks, 34. + Wohlgemuth, 12, 21, 51, 90. + Woodcuts, 37. + + Zealand, Journey to, 107. + + + + +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. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Durer, by M. 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F. Sweetser + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Durer + Artist-Biographies + +Author: M. F. Sweetser + +Release Date: June 13, 2010 [EBook #32787] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DURER *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander, Juliet Sutherland and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 347px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="347" height="500" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<div class="centerbox bbox"> +<p> </p> +<h3><i>ARTIST-BIOGRAPHIES.</i></h3> + +<hr class="tiny" /> + +<p class="gap"> </p> + +<h1>DÜRER.</h1> + +<p class="gap"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 102px;"> +<img src="images/durertitle.jpg" width="102" height="100" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="gap"> </p> + +<h4>BOSTON:<br /> +HOUGHTON, OSGOOD, AND COMPANY.</h4> + +<p class="center">The Riverside Press, Cambridge.</p> + +<p class="center">1879.</p></div> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright.<br /> +By JAMES R. OSGOOD & CO.</span><br /> +1877.</p> +<p class="smallgap"> </p> + +<p class="center">FRANKLIN PRESS:<br /> +RAND, AVERY, AND COMPANY,<br /> +BOSTON.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><div class="centerbox2 bbox2"> +<h3>ARTIST-BIOGRAPHIES.</h3> + +<h4>PUBLISHERS’ ANNOUNCEMENT.</h4> + +<hr class="tiny" /> + +<p>The growth of a popular interest in art and its history has been very +rapid during the last decade of American life, and is still in +progress. This interest is especially directed towards the lives of +artists themselves; and a general demand exists for a uniform series +of biographies of those most eminent, which shall possess the +qualities of reliability, compactness, and cheapness.</p> + +<p>To answer this demand the present series has been projected. The +publishers have intrusted its preparation to Mr. M. F. Sweetser, whose +qualities of thoroughness in research and fidelity in statement have +been proved in other fields of authorship. It is believed that by the +omission of much critical and discursive matter commonly found in art +biographies, an account of an artist’s life may be presented, which is +at once truthful and attractive, within the limits prescribed for +these volumes.</p> + +<p>The series will be published at the rate of one or two volumes each +month, at 50 cents each volume, and will contain the lives of the most +famous artists of mediæval and modern times. It will include the lives +of many of the following:—</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" summary="SERIES TITLES"> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Raphael,</td> +<td align="left">Claude,</td> +<td align="left">Van Dyck,</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Michael Angelo,</td> +<td align="left">Poussin,</td> +<td align="left">Gainsborough,</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Leonardo da Vinci,</td> +<td align="left">Delacroix,</td> +<td align="left">Reynolds,</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Titian,</td> +<td align="left">Delaroche,</td> +<td align="left">Wilkie,</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Tintoretto,</td> +<td align="left">Greuze,</td> +<td align="left">Lawrence,</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Paul Veronese,</td> +<td align="left">Dürer,</td> +<td align="left">Landseer,</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Guido,</td> +<td align="left">Rubens,</td> +<td align="left">Turner,</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Murillo,</td> +<td align="left">Rembrandt,</td> +<td align="left">West,</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Velasquez,</td> +<td align="left">Holbein,</td> +<td align="left">Copley,</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Salvator Rosa,</td> +<td align="left">Teniers,</td> +<td align="left">Allston.</td></tr> + +</table></div></div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2> + +<p>This little volume presents an account of the life of one of the +noblest and most versatile artists of Germany, with a passing glance +at the activities of Northern Europe at the era of the Reformation. +The weird and wonderful paintings of Dürer are herein concisely +described, as well as the most famous and characteristic of his +engravings and carvings; and his quaint literary works are enumerated. +It has also been thought advisable to devote considerable space to +details about Nuremberg, the scene of the artist’s greatest labors; +and to reproduce numerous extracts from his fascinating Venetian +letters and Lowland journals.</p> + +<p>The modern theory as to Dürer’s wife and his home has been accepted in +this work, after a long and careful examination of the arguments on +both sides. It is pleasant thus to be able to aid in the +rehabilitation of the much-slandered Agnes, and to have an oppressive +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>cloud of sorrow removed from the memory of the great painter.</p> + +<p>The chief authorities used in the preparation of this new memoir are +the recent works of Dr. Thausing and Mr. W. B. Scott, with the series +of articles now current in “The Portfolio,” written by Professor +Colvin. Mrs. Heaton’s biography has also been studied with care; and +other details have been gathered from modern works of travel and +art-criticism, as well as from “The Art Journal,” “La Gazette des +Beaux Arts,” and other periodicals of a similar character.</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">M. F. Sweetser.</span></p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" summary="CONTENTS"> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">CHAPTER I.</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">1471-1494.</td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td> +<td align="right"><span class="smaller">PAGE</span></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="left"><p style="margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;">The Activities of Nuremberg.—The Dürer Family.—Early Years of +Albert.—His Studies with Wohlgemuth.—The <i>Wander-Jahre</i></p></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">CHAPTER II.</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">1494-1505.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="left"><p style="margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;">Dürer marries Agnes Frey.—Her Character.—Early +Engravings.—Portraits.—“The Apocalypse.”—Death of Dürer’s +Father.—Drawings</p></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">CHAPTER III.</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">1505-1509.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="left"><p style="margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;">The Journey to Venice.—Bellini’s Friendship.—Letters to +Pirkheimer.—“The Feast of Rose Garlands.”—Bologna.—“Adam and +Eve.”—“The Coronation of the Virgin”</p></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">CHAPTER IV.</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">1509-1514.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="left"><p style="margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;">Dürer’s House.—His Poetry.—Sculptures.—The Great and Little +Passions.—Life of the Virgin.—Plagiarists.—Works for the Emperor +Maximilian</p></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">CHAPTER V.</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">1514-1520.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="left"><p style="margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;">St. Jerome.—The Melencolia.—Death of Dürer’s +Mother.—Raphael.—Etchings.—Maximilian’s Arch.—Visit to Augsburg</p></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center"><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p>CHAPTER VI.</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">1520-1522.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="left"><p style="margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;">Dürer’s Tour in the Netherlands.—His Journal.—Cologne.—Feasts at +Antwerp and Brussels.—Procession of Notre Dame.—The +Confirmatia.—Zealand Journey.—Ghent.—Martin Luther</p></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">CHAPTER VII.</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">1522-1526.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="left"><p style="margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;">Nuremberg’s Reformation.—The Little +Masters.—Glass-Painting.—Architecture.—Letter to the City +Council.—“Art of Mensuration.”—Portraits.—Melanchthon</p></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_118">118</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">CHAPTER VIII.</td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">1526-1528.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="left"><p style="margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;">“The Four Apostles.”—Dürer’s Later Literary Works.—Four Books of +Proportion.—Last Sickness and Death.—Agnes Dürer.—Dürer described +by a Friend</p></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td></tr> + +</table></div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="ALBERT_DURER" id="ALBERT_DURER"></a>ALBERT DÜRER.</h2> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;">The Activities of Nuremberg.—The Dürer Family.—Early Years of +Albert.—His Studies with Wohlgemuth.—The <i>Wander-Jahre</i>.</p></div> + +<p>The free imperial city of Nuremberg, in the heart of Franconia, was +one of the chief centres of the active life of the Middle Ages, and +shared with Augsburg the great trans-continental traffic between +Venice and the Levant and Northern Europe. Its municipal liberties +were jealously guarded by venerable guilds and by eminent magistrates +drawn from the families of the merchant-princes, forming a government +somewhat similar to the Venetian Council. The profits of a commercial +prosperity second only to that of the Italian ports had greatly +enriched the thrifty burghers, aided by the busy manufacturing +establishments <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>which made the city “the Birmingham of the Middle +Ages.” Public and private munificence exerted itself in the erection +and adornment of new and splendid buildings; and the preparation of +works of art and utility was stimulated on all sides. It was the era +of the discovery of America, the revival of classic learning, and the +growth of free thought in matters pertaining to religion. So far had +the inventions of the artisans contributed to the comfort of the +people, that Pope Pius II. said that “A Nuremberg citizen is better +lodged than the King of Scots;” and so widely were they exported to +foreign realms, that the proud proverb arose that</p> + +<div class="centerbox3 bbox3"><p>“Nuremberg’s hand<br /> +Goes through every land.”</p></div> + +<p>Nuremberg still stands, a vast mediæval relic, in the midst of the +whirl and activity of modern Germany, rich and thriving, but almost +unchanged in its antique beauty. The narrow streets in which Dürer +walked are flanked, as then, by quaint gable-roofed houses, +timber-fronted, with mullioned windows and arching portals. In the +faded and venerable palaces of the fifteenth century <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>live the +descendants of the old patrician families, cherishing the memories and +archives of the past; and the stately Gothic churches are still rich +in religious architecture, and in angular old Byzantine pictures and +delicate German carvings. On the hill the castle rears its ponderous +ramparts, which have stood for immemorial ages; and the high towers +along the city walls have not yet bowed their brave crests to the +spirit of the century of boulevards and railroads.</p> + +<p>With two essentials of civilization, paper and printing-presses, +Nuremberg supplied herself at an early day. The first paper-mill in +Germany was established here in 1390; and its workmen were obliged to +take an oath never to make paper for themselves, nor to reveal the +process of manufacture. They went out on a strike when the mill was +enlarged, but the authorities imprisoned them until they became docile +once more. Koberger’s printing-house contained twenty-four presses, +and employed over a hundred men, printing not only Bibles and +breviaries, but also chronicles, homilies, poems, and scientific +works. As the Aldine Press attracted many authors and scholars to +Venice, so Koberger’s teeming press <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>led several German literati to +settle at Nuremberg. For the four first years of Dürer’s life, the +wonderful mathematician and astronomer Regiomontanus dwelt here, and +had no less than twenty-one books printed by Koberger. His numerous +inventions and instruments awakened the deepest interest in the +Nuremberg craftsmen, and stimulated a fruitful spirit of inquiry for +many years.</p> + +<p>The clockmakers of Nuremberg were famous for their ingenious +productions. Watches were invented here in the year 1500, and were +long known as “Nuremberg eggs.” The modern composition of brass was +formed by Erasmus Ebner; wire-drawing machinery also was a Nuremberg +device; the air-gun was invented by Hobsinger; the clarionet, by +Denner; and the church-organs made here were the best in Germany. +There were also many expert metal-workers and braziers; and fifty +master-goldsmiths dwelt in the town, making elegant and highly +artistic works, images, seals, and medals, which were famous +throughout Europe. The most exquisite flowers and insects, and other +delicate objects, were reproduced in filagree silver; and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>the first +maiolica works in Northern Europe were also founded here.</p> + +<p>Isolated, like the ducal cities of Italy, from the desolating wars of +the great powers of Europe, and like them also growing rapidly in +wealth and cultivation, Nuremberg afforded a secure refuge for Art and +its children. In Dürer’s day the great churches of St. Sebald, St. +Lawrence, and Our Lady were finished; Peter Vischer executed the +exquisite and unrivalled bronze Shrine of St. Sebald; and Adam Kraft +completed the fairy-like Sacrament-house, sixty feet high, and +“delicate as a tree covered with hoar-frost.” Intimate with these two +renowned artificers was Lindenast, “the red smith,” who worked +skilfully in beaten copper; and their studies were conducted in +company with Vischer’s five sons, who, with their wives and children, +all dwelt happily at their father’s house. Vischer lived till a year +after Dürer’s death, but there is no intimation that the two artists +ever met. Another eminent craftsman was the unruly Veit Stoss, the +marvellous wood-carver, many of whose works remain to this day; and +there was also Hans Beheim, the sculptor, “an honorable, pious, and +God-fearing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>man;” and Bullman, who “was very learned in astronomy, +and was the first to set the Theoria Planetarum in motion by +clockwork;” and he who made the great alarm-bell, which was inscribed, +“I am called the mass and the fire bell: Hans Glockengeiser cast me: I +sound to God’s service and honor.” What shall we say also of Hartmann, +Dürer’s pupil, who invented the measuring-rod; Schoner, the maker of +terrestrial globes; Donner, who improved screw machinery; and all the +skilful gun-makers, joiners, carpet-workers, and silk-embroiderers? +There was also the burgher Martin Behaim, the inventor of the +terrestrial globe, who anticipated Columbus by sailing Eastward across +the Pacific Ocean, passing through the Straits of Magellan and +discovering Brazil, as early as 1485.</p> + +<p>In Germany, as in Italy, the studio of the artist, full of pure and +lofty ideals, had hardly yet evolved itself from the workshop of the +picture-manufacturer. Nuremberg’s chief artists at this time were +Michael Wohlgemuth, Dürer’s master; Lucas Kornelisz, also called +Ludwig Krug, who, though a most skilful engraver, was sometimes forced +to adopt the profession of a cook in order <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>to support himself; and +Matthias Zagel, who was expert in both painting and engraving. Still +another was the Venetian Jacopo de’ Barbari, or Jacob Walch, “the +master of the Caduceus,” a dexterous engraver and designer, whom Dürer +alludes to in his Venetian and Netherland writings. The art of +engraving had been invented early in the fifteenth century, and was +developing rapidly and richly toward perfection. The day of versatile +artists had arrived, when men combined the fine and industrial arts in +one life, and devoted themselves to making masterpieces in each +department. The northern nations, unaided by classic models and +traditions, were developing a new and indigenous æsthetic life, slow +of growth, but bound to succeed in the long run.</p> + +<p>The literary society of Dürer’s epoch at Nuremberg was grouped in the +<i>Sodalitas Literaria Rhenana</i>, under the learned Conrad Celtes, who +published a book of Latin comedies, pure in Latinity and lax in +morals, which he mischievously attributed to the Abbess Roswitha. +Pirkheimer and the monk Chelidonius also belonged to this sodality. +Other contemporary literati of the city were Cochläus, Luther’s +satirical opponent; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>the Hebraist Osiander; Venatorius, who united the +discordant professions of poetry and mathematics; the Provost +Pfinzing, for whose poem of <i>Tewrdannkh</i>, Dürer’s pupil Schäuffelein +made 118 illustrations; Baumgärtner, Melanchthon’s friend; Veit +Dietrich, the reformer; and Joachim Camerarius, the Latinist. But the +most illustrious of Nuremberg’s authors at that time was the +cobbler-poet, Hans Sachs, a radical in politics and religion, who +scourged the priests and the capitalists of his day in songs and +satires which were sung and recited by the workmen of all Germany. He +himself tells us that he wrote 4,200 master-songs, 208 comedies and +tragedies, 73 devotional and love songs, and 1,007 fables, tales, and +miscellaneous poems; and others say that his songs helped the +Reformation as much as Luther’s preaching.</p> + +<p>Thus the activities of mechanics, art, and literature pressed forward +with equal fervor in the quaint old Franconian city, while Albert +Dürer’s life was passing on. “Abroad and far off still mightier things +were doing; Copernicus was writing in his observatory, Vasco di Gama +was on the Southern Seas.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p><p>“I, Albrecht Dürer the younger, have sought out from among my father’s +papers these particulars of him, where he came from, and how he lived +and died holily. God rest his soul! Amen.” In this manner the pious +artist begins an interesting family history, in which it is stated +that the Dürers were originally from the romantic little Hungarian +hamlet of Eytas, where they were engaged in herding cattle and horses. +Anthony Dürer removed to the neighboring town of Jula, where he +learned the goldsmith’s art, which he taught to his son Albrecht, or +Albert, while his other sons were devoted to mechanical employments +and the priesthood. Albert was not content to stay in sequestered +Jula, and, wandering over Germany and the Low Countries, at last came +to Nuremberg, where he settled in 1455, in the service of the +goldsmith Hieronymus Haller. This worthy Haller and his wife Kunigund, +the daughter of Oellinger of Weissenberg, at that time had an infant +daughter; and as she grew up Albert endeared himself to her to such +purpose that, in 1467, when Barbara had become “a fair and handy +maiden of fifteen,” he married her, being forty years old himself. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>During the next twenty-four years she bore him eighteen children, +seven daughters and eleven sons, of whose births, names, and +godparents the father made careful descriptions. Three only, Albert, +Andreas, and Hans, arrived at years of maturity. It may well be +believed that the poor master-goldsmith was forced to work hard and +struggle incessantly to support such a great family; and his portrait +shows that the hand-to-mouth existence of so many years had told +heavily and left its imprint on his weary and careworn face. Yet he +had certain sources of peace and gentleness in his life, and never +sank into moroseness or selfishness. Let us quote the tender and +reverent words of his son: “My father’s life was passed in great +struggles and in continuous hard work. With my dear mother bearing so +many children, he never could become rich, as he had nothing but what +his hands brought him. He had thus many troubles, trials, and adverse +circumstances. But yet from every one who knew him he received praise, +because he led an honorable Christian life, and was patient, giving +all men consideration, and thanking God. He indulged himself in few +pleasures, spoke <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>little, shunned society, and was in truth a +God-fearing man. My dear father took great pains with his children, +bringing them up to the honor of God. He made us know what was +agreeable to others as well as to our Maker, so that we might become +good neighbors; and every day he talked to us of these things, the +love of God and the conduct of life.”</p> + +<p>Albert Dürer was the third child of Albert the Elder and Barbara +Hallerin, and was born on the morning of the 21st of May, 1471. The +house in which the Dürers then lived was a part of the great pile of +buildings owned and in part occupied by the wealthy Pirkheimer family, +and was called the <i>Pirkheimer Hinterhaus</i>. It fronted on the Winkler +Strasse of Nuremberg, and was an ambitious home for a craftsman like +Albert. The presence of Antonius Koberger, the famous book-printer, as +godfather to the new-born child, shows also that the Dürers occupied +an honorable position in the city.</p> + +<p>The Pirkheimers were then prominent among the patrician families of +Southern Germany, renowned for antiquity, enormously wealthy through +successful commerce, and honored by important <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>offices in the State. +The infant Willibald Pirkheimer was of about the same age as the young +Albert Dürer; and the two became close companions in all their +childish sports, despite the difference in the rank of their families. +When the goldsmith’s family moved to another house, at the foot of the +castle-hill, five years later, the warm intimacy between the children +continued unchanged.</p> + +<p>The instruction of Albert in the rudiments of learning was begun at an +early age, probably in the parochial school of St. Sebald, and was +conducted after the singular manner of the schools of that day, when +printed books were too costly to be intrusted to children. He lived +comfortably in his father’s house, and daily received the wise +admonitions and moral teachings of the elder Albert. His friendship +for Willibald enabled him to learn certain elements of the higher +studies into which the young patrician was led by his tutors; and his +visits to the Pirkheimer mansion opened views of higher culture and +more refined modes of life.</p> + +<p>Albert was enamoured with art from his earliest years, and spent many +of his leisure hours <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>in making sketches and rude drawings, which he +gave to his schoolmates and friends. The Imhoff Collection had a +drawing of three heads, done in his eleventh year; the Posonyi +Collection claimed to possess a Madonna of his fifteenth year; and the +British Museum has a chalk-drawing of a woman holding a bird in her +hand, whose first owner wrote on it, “This was drawn for me by Albert +Dürer before he became a painter.” The most interesting of these early +works is in the Albertina at Vienna, and bears the inscription: “This +I have drawn from myself from the looking-glass, in the year 1484, +when I was still a child.—<span class="smcap">Albert Dürer.</span>” It shows a handsome and +pensive boy-face, oval in shape, with large and tender eyes, filled +with solemnity and vague melancholy; long hair cut straight across the +forehead, and falling over the shoulders; and full and pouting lips. +It is faulty in design, but shows a considerable knowledge of drawing, +and a strong faculty for portraiture. The certain sadness of +expression tells that the schoolboy had already become acquainted with +grief, probably from the straitened circumstances of his family, and +the melancholy deaths of so <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>many brothers and sisters. The great +mystery of sorrow was full early thrown across the path of the solemn +artist. This portrait was always retained by Dürer as a memorial of +his childhood.</p> + +<p>He says of his father, “For me, I think, he had a particular +affection; and, as he saw me diligent in learning, he sent me to +school. When I had learned to write and read, he took me home again, +with the intention of teaching me the goldsmith’s work. In this I +began to do tolerably well.” He was taken into the goldsmith’s +workshop in his thirteenth year, and remained there two years, +receiving instruction which was not without value in his future life, +in showing him the elements of the arts of modelling and design. The +accuracy and delicacy of his later plastic works show how well he +apprehended these ideas, and how far he acquired sureness of +expression. The elder Albert was a skilful master-workman, highly +esteemed in his profession, and had received several important +commissions. It is said that the young apprentice executed under his +care a beautiful piece of silver-work representing the Seven Agonies +of Christ.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p><p>“But my love was towards painting, much more than towards the +goldsmith’s craft. When at last I told my father of my inclination, he +was not well pleased, thinking of the time I had been under him as +lost if I turned painter. But he left me to have my will; and in the +year 1486, on St. Andrew’s Day, he settled me apprentice with Michael +Wohlgemuth, to serve him for three years. In that time God gave me +diligence to learn well, in spite of the pains I had to suffer from +the other young men.” Thus Dürer describes his change in life, and the +embarkation on his true vocation, as well as the reluctance of the +elder Albert to allow his noble and beloved boy to pass out from his +desolated household into other scenes, and away from his +companionship.</p> + +<p>Wohlgemuth was one of the early religious painters who stood at the +transition-point between the school of Cologne and that of the Van +Eycks, or between the old pietistic traditions of Byzantine art and +the new ideas of the art of the Northern Reformation. The +conventionalisms of the Rhenish and Franconian paintings were being +exchanged for a fresher originality and a truer realism; and the +pictures of this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>time curiously blended the old and the new. +Wohlgemuth seems to have considered art as a money-getting trade +rather than a high vocation, and his workroom was more a shop than a +studio. He turned out countless Madonnas and other religious subjects +for churches and chance purchasers, and also painted chests and carved +and colored images of the saints, many of which were executed by his +apprentices. A few of his works, however, were done with great care +and delicacy, and show a worthy degree of sweetness and simplicity. +Evidently the young pupil gained little besides a technical knowledge +of painting from this master,—the mechanical processes, the modes of +mixing and applying colors, the chemistry of pigments, and a certain +facility in using them. It was well that the influences about him were +not powerful enough to warp his pure and original genius into servile +imitations of decadent methods. His hands were taught dexterity; and +his mind was left to pursue its own lofty course, and use them as its +skilful allies in the new conquests of art.</p> + +<p>Wood-engraving was also carried on in Wohlgemuth’s studio, and it is +probable that Dürer here <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>learned the rudiments of this branch of art, +which he afterwards carried to so high a perfection. Some writers +maintain that his earliest works in this line were done for the famous +“Nuremberg Chronicle,” which was published in 1493 by Wohlgemuth and +Pleydenwurf.</p> + +<p>The three years which were spent in Wohlgemuth’s studio were probably +devoted to apprentice-work on compositions designed by the master, who +was then about fifty years old, and at the summit of his fame. But few +of Dürer’s drawings now existing date from this epoch, one of which +represents a group of horsemen, and another the three Swiss leaders, +Fürst, Melchthal, and Staufacher. The beautiful portrait of Dürer’s +father, which is now at Florence, was executed by the young artist in +1490, probably to carry with him as a souvenir of home. Mündler says, +“For beauty and delicacy of modelling, this portrait has scarcely been +surpassed afterwards by the master, perhaps not equalled.”</p> + +<p>It was claimed by certain old biographers that the eminent Martin +Schongauer of Colmar was Dürer’s first master; but this is now +contested, although it is evident that his pictures had a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>powerful +effect on the youth. Schongauer was the greatest artist and engraver +that Germany had as yet produced, and exerted a profound influence on +the art of the Rhineland. He renewed the fantastic conceits and +grotesque vagaries which the Papal artists of Cologne had suppressed +as heathenish, and prepared the way for, or perhaps even suggested, +the weird elements of Dürer’s conceptions. At the same time he passed +back of his Netherland art-education, and studied a mystic benignity +and dreamy spirituality suggestive of the Umbrian painters, with whose +chief, the great Perugino, Martin was acquainted. Herein Dürer’s works +were in strong contrast with Schongauer’s, and showed the new spirit +that was stirring in the world.</p> + +<p>Next to Schongauer, the great Italian artist Mantegna exercised the +strongest influence upon Dürer, who studied his bold and austere +engravings with earnest admiration, showing his traits in many +subsequent works. Probably he met the famous Mantuan painter during +the <i>Wander-jahre</i>, in Italy; and at the close of his Venetian journey +he was about to pay a visit of homage to him, when he heard of his +death.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p><p>During his three years of study we have seen that the delicate and +sensitive youth suffered much from the reckless rudeness and jeering +insults of his companions, rough hand-workers who doubtless failed to +understand the poignancy of the torments which they inflicted on the +sad-eyed son of genius. But his home was near at hand, and the tender +care of his parents, always beloved. How often he must have wandered +through the familiar streets of Nuremberg, with his dreamy artist-face +and flowing hair, and studied the Gothic palaces, the fountains +adorned with statuary, and the rich treasures of art in the great +churches! Beyond the tall-towered town, danger lurked on every road; +but inside the gray walls was peace and safety, and no free lances nor +marauding men-at-arms could check the aspiring flight of the youth’s +bright imagination.</p> + +<p>“And when the three years were out, my father sent me away. I remained +abroad four years, when he recalled me; and, as I had left just after +Easter in 1490, I returned home in 1494 just after Whitsuntide.” Thus +Albert describes the close of his <i>Lehr-jahre</i>, or labor-years, and +the entrance upon his <i>Wander-jahre</i>, or travel-years. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>According to a +German custom, still prevalent in a modified degree, the youth was +obliged to travel for a long period, and study and practise his trade +or profession in other cities, before settling for life as a +master-workman. Unfortunately all that Dürer records as to these +eventful four years is given in the sentences above; and we can only +theorize as to the places which he visited, and his studies of the +older art-treasures of Europe. Some authors believe that a part of the +<i>Wander-jahre</i> was spent in Italy, and Dr. Thausing, Dürer’s latest +and best biographer, clearly proves this theory by a close study of +his notes and sketches. Others claim with equal positiveness, and less +capability of proof, that they were devoted to the Low Countries. It +is certain that he abode at Colmar in 1492, where he was honorably +received by Gaspar, Paul, and Louis, the three brothers of Martin +Schongauer. The great Martin had died some years before; but many of +his best paintings were preserved at Colmar, and were carefully +studied by Dürer. At a later day he wandered through the Rhineland to +Basle, and spent his last year at Strasbourg. His portraits of his +master and mistress <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>in the latter city were dated in 1494, and +pertained to the Imhoff Collection.</p> + +<p>His portrait painted by himself in 1493 was procured at Rome by the +Hofrath Beireis, and described by Goethe. It shows a bright and +vigorous face, full of youthful earnestness and joy, rich, harmonious, +and finely executed, though thinly colored. He is attired in a +blue-gray cloak with yellow strings, an embroidered shirt whose +sleeves are bound with peach-colored ribbons, and a purple cap; and +holds a piece of the blue flower called <i>Manns-treue</i>, or Man’s-faith.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;">Dürer marries Agnes Frey.—Her Character.—Early +Engravings.—Portraits.—“The Apocalypse.”—Death of Dürer’s +Father.—Drawings.</p></div> + +<p>“And when my <i>Wander-jahre</i> was over, Hans Frey treated with my +father, and gave me his daughter, by name the <i>Jungfrau</i> Agnes, with a +dowry of 200 guldens. Our wedding was held on the Monday before St. +Margaret’s Day (in July), in the year 1494.” This dry statement of the +most important event of the artist’s life illustrates the ancient +German custom of betrothal, where the bond of wedlock was considered +as a matter-of-fact copartnership, with inalienable rights and duties, +devoid of sentiment or romance. Since the relatives of the contracting +parties were closely affected by such transactions, they usually +managed the negotiations themselves; and the young people, thus thrown +by their parents at each other’s heads, were expected to, and usually +did, accept the situation with submissiveness and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>prudent obedience. +In this case it appears that the first overtures came from the family +of the lady; and perhaps the order for Albert to return from his +wanderings was issued for this reason. Hans Frey was a burgher with +large possessions in Nuremberg and the adjacent country; and his +daughter was a very beautiful maiden. Her future husband does not +appear to have seen her until the betrothal was made.</p> + +<p>Most of Dürer’s biographers have dwelt at great length on the malign +influence which Agnes exercised upon his life, representing her as a +jealous virago, imbittering the existence of the noble artist. But Dr. +Thausing, in his new and exhaustive history of Dürer’s life, +vindicates the lady from this evil charge; and his position is +carefully reviewed and sustained by Eugéne Müntz. He points out the +fact that the long story of Agnes’s uncongeniality rests solely on +Pirkheimer’s letter, and then shows that that ponderous burgher had +reasons for personal hostility to her. The unbroken silence which +Dürer preserves as to home-troubles, throughout his numerous letters +and journals, is held as proof against the charges; and none of his +intimate <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>friends and contemporaries (save Pirkheimer) allude to his +domestic trials, though they wrote so much about him. The accusation +of avarice on her part is combated by several facts, among which is +the cardinal one of her self-sacrificing generosity to the Dürer +family after her husband’s death, and the remarkable record of her +transferring to the endowment of the Protestant University of +Wittenberg the thousand florins which Albert had placed in the hands +of the Rath for her support. Pirkheimer’s acrimonious letter (see p. +<a href="#Link1">142</a>) gives her credit at least for virtue and piety; and perhaps we may +regard her aversion to the doughty writer as a point in her favor.</p> + +<p>It is a singular and unexplained fact, that although Dürer was +accustomed to sketch every one about him, yet no portrait of his wife +is certainly known to exist, though several of his sketches are so +called, without any foundation or proof. What adds to the strangeness +of this omission is the fact that all accounts represent Agnes Dürer +as a very handsome woman.</p> + +<p>Probably the newly married couple dwelt at the house of the elder +Dürer during the first years of their union. In 1494 Albert was +admitted to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>the guild of painters, submitting a pen-drawing of +Orpheus and the Bacchantes as his test of ability; and at about the +same time he drew the “Bacchanal” and “The Battle of the Tritons,” +which are now at Vienna. Herein he showed the contemporary classical +tendency of art, which he so soon outgrew. About this same time he +designed a frontispiece for the Latin poem which Dr. Ulsen had written +about the pestilence which was devastating Nuremberg, showing a +ghastly and repulsive man covered with plague-boils. The portrait of +Dürer’s father, in oil-colors, which is now at Frankfort, was also +executed during this year.</p> + +<p>Dürer’s first copper-plate engraving dates from 1497, and represents +four naked women, under a globe bearing the initials of “<i>O Gott +Hilf</i>,” or “O God, help,” while human bones strew the floor, and a +flaming devil appears in the background. During the next three years +the master made twenty copper-plate engravings. The composition of +“St. Jerome’s Penance” shows the noble old ascetic kneeling alone in a +rocky wilderness, beating his naked breast with a stone, and gazing at +a crucifix, while the symbolical lion lies beside him. “The Penance of +St. John Chrysostom” <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>depicts the long-bearded saint expiating his +guilt in seducing and slaying the princess by crawling about on +all-fours like a beast. She is seen at the mouth of a rocky cave, +nursing her child. “The Prodigal Son” is another tender and +exquisitely finished copper-plate engraving, in which the yearning and +prayerful Prodigal, bearing the face of Dürer, is kneeling on bare +knees by the trough at which a drove of swine are feeding. In the +background is a group of substantial German farm-buildings, with +unconcerned domestic animals and fowls. “The Rape of Amymone” shows a +gloomy Triton carrying off a very ugly woman from the midst of her +bathing Danaide sisters. “The Dream” portrays an obese German soundly +sleeping by a great stove, with a foolish-faced naked Venus and a +winged Cupid standing by his side, and a little demon blowing in his +ear. “The Love Offer” is made by an ugly old man to a pretty maiden, +whose waist is encircled by his arm, while her hand is greedily +outstretched to receive the money which he offers. Another early +engraving on copper shows a wild and naked man holding an unspeakably +ugly woman, who is endeavoring to tear herself from his arms. Still +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>others delineate Justice sitting on a lion, “The Little Fortune” +standing naked on a globe, and the monstrous hog of Franconia.</p> + +<p>It was chiefly through his engravings that Dürer became and remains +known to the world; and by the same mode of expression he boldly +showed forth the doubts and despairs, yearnings and conflicts, not +only of his own pure and sorrowful soul, but also of Europe, quivering +in the throes of the Reformation.</p> + +<p>The artists of Italy, when the age of faith was ended, turned to the +empty splendors and symmetries of paganism; but their German brothers +faced the new problems more sternly, and strove for the life of the +future. Under Dürer’s hard and homely German scenes, there seem to be +double meanings and unfathomable fancies, usually alluding to sorrow, +sin, and death, and showing forth the vanity of all things earthly. In +sharp contrast with these profound allegories are the humorous +grotesqueness and luxuriant fancifulness which appear in others of the +artist’s engravings, fantastic, uncouth, and quaint. He frequently +yielded to the temptation to introduce strange animals and unearthly +monsters into his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>pictures, even those of the most sacred subjects; +and his so-called “Virgin with the Animals” is surrounded by scores of +birds, insects, and quadrupeds of various kinds.</p> + +<p>It is interesting to hear of the rarity of the early impressions of +Dürer’s engravings, and the avidity with which they are sought and the +keenness with which they are analyzed by collectors. In many cases the +copies of these engravings are as good as the originals, and can be +distinguished only by the most trifling peculiarities. The water-marks +of the paper on which they are printed form a certain indication of +their period. Before his Venetian journey Dürer used paper bearing the +water-mark of the bull’s head; and, after his return from the +Netherlands, paper bearing a little pitcher; while the middle period +had several peculiar symbols. A fine impression of the copper-plate +engraving of “St. Jerome” recently brought over $500; and the Passion +in Copper sold in 1864 for $300.</p> + +<p>“The Portfolio” for 1877 contains a long series of articles by Prof. +Sidney Colvin on “Albert Dürer: His Teachers, his Rivals, and his +Scholars,” treating exhaustively of his relations as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>an engraver to +other contemporary masters,—Schongauer, Israhel van Meckenen, +Mantegna, Boldini and the Florentines, Jacopo de’ Barbari (Jacob +Walch), Marc Antonio, Lucas van Leyden, and certain other excellent +but nameless artists.</p> + +<p>Vasari says, “The power and boldness of Albert increasing with time, +and as he perceived his works to obtain increasing estimation, he now +executed engravings on copper, which amazed all who beheld them.” +Three centuries later Von Schlegel wrote, “When I turn to look at the +numberless sketches and copper-plate designs of the present day, Dürer +appears to me like the originator of a new and noble system of +thought, burning with the zeal of a first pure inspiration, and eager +to diffuse his deeply conceived and probably true and great ideas.”</p> + +<p>In 1497 Dürer painted the excellent portrait of his father, which the +Rath of Nuremberg presented to Charles I. of England, and which is now +at Sion House, the seat of the Earl of Northumberland. It shows a man +aged yet strong, with grave and anxious eyes, compressed lips, and an +earnest expression. Another similar portrait of the same date is in +the Munich Pinakothek. He also executed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>two portraits of the pretty +patrician damsel, Catherine Fürleger; one as a loose-haired Magdalen +(which is now in London), and the other as a German lady (now at +Frankfort).</p> + +<p>In 1498 Dürer painted a handsome portrait of himself, with curly hair +and beard, and a rich holiday costume. His expression is that of a man +who appreciates and delights in his own value, and is thoroughly +self-complacent. This picture was presented by Nuremberg to King +Charles I. of England; and, in the dispersion of his gallery during +the Commonwealth, it was bought by the Grand Duke of Tuscany. It is +now in the Uffizi Gallery, though Mündler calls this Florentine +picture a copy of a nobler original which is in the Madrid Gallery.</p> + +<p>During this year Dürer published his first great series of woodcuts, +representing the Apocalypse of St. John, in fifteen pictures full of +terrible impressiveness and the naturalistic quaintness of early +German faith. The boldness of the youth who thus took for his theme +the marvellous mysteries of Patmos was warranted in the grand +weirdness and perennial fascination of the resulting compositions. +This series of rich and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>skilful engravings marked a new era in the +history of wood-engraving, and the entrance of a noble artistic spirit +into a realm which had previously been occupied by rude monkish cuts +of saints and miracles. Jackson calls these representations of the +Apocalypse “much superior to all wood-engravings that had previously +appeared, both in design and execution.” The series was brought out +simultaneously in German and Latin editions, and was published by the +author himself. It met with a great success, and was soon duplicated +in new pirated editions.</p> + +<p>It has of late years become a contested point as to whether Dürer +really engraved his woodcuts with his own hands, or whether he only +drew the designs on the wood, and left their mechanical execution to +practical workmen. It is only within the present century that a theory +to the latter effect has been advanced and supported by powerful +arguments and first-class authorities. The German scholars Bartsch and +Von Eye, and the historians of engraving Jackson and Chatto, concur in +denying Dürer’s use of the graver. But there is a strong and +well-supported belief that many of the engravings attributed to him +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>were actually done by his hand, and that during the earlier part of +his career he was largely engaged in this way. The exquisite +wood-carvings which are undoubtedly his work show that he was not +devoid of the manual dexterity needful for these plates; and it is +also certain that the mediæval artists did not hold themselves above +mechanical labors, since even Raphael and Titian were among the +<i>peintres-graveurs</i>. Dürer’s efforts greatly elevated the art of +wood-engraving in Germany, and this improvement was directly conducive +to its growth in popularity. A large number of skilful engravers were +developed by the new demand; and in his later years Dürer doubtless +found enough expert assistants, and was enabled to devote his time to +more noble achievements. He used the art to multiply and disseminate +his rich ideas, which thus found a more ready expression than that of +painting. Heller attributes one hundred and seventy-four +wood-engravings to him; and many more, of varying claims to +authenticity, are enumerated by other writers. Twenty-six were made +before 1506. The finest and the only perfect collection of Dürer’s +woodcuts is owned by Herr Cornill d’Orville of Frankfort-on-the-Main.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p><p>In 1500 Dürer painted the noble portrait of himself which is now at +Munich, and is the favorite of all lovers of the great artist. It +shows a high and intellectual forehead, and tender and loving eyes, +with long curling hair which falls far down on his shoulders. In many +respects it bears the closest resemblance to the traditional pictures +of Christ, with its sad and solemn beauty, and large sympathetic eyes, +and has the same effeminate full lips and streaming ringlets.</p> + +<p>During the next five years Dürer was in some measure compensated for +the trials of his home by the cheerful companionship of his old friend +Pirkheimer, who had recently returned from service with the Emperor’s +army in the Tyrolese wars. At his hospitable mansion the artist met +many eminent scholars, reformers, and literati, and broadened his +knowledge of the world, while receiving worthy homage for his genius +and his personal accomplishments. Baumgärtner, Volkamer, Harsdorfer, +and other patricians of the city, were his near friends; and the +Augustine Prior, Eucharius Karl, and the brilliant Lazarus Spengler, +the Secretary of Nuremberg, were also intimate with both Dürer and +Pirkheimer. During <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>the next twenty years the harassed artist often +sought refuge among these gatherings of choice spirits, when weary of +his continuous labors of ambition.</p> + +<p>Dürer pathetically narrates the death of his venerable father, in +words as vivid as one of his pictures, and full of quaint tenderness: +“Soon he clearly saw death before him, and with great patience waited +to go, recommending my mother to me, and a godly life to all of us. He +received the sacraments, and died a true Christian, on the eve of St. +Matthew (Sept. 21), at midnight, in 1502.... The old nurse helped him +to rise, and put the close cap upon his head again, which had become +wet by the heavy sweat. He wanted something to drink; and she gave him +Rhine wine, of which he tasted some, and then wished to lie down +again. He thanked her for her aid, but no sooner lay back upon his +pillows than his last agony began. Then the old woman trimmed the +lamp, and set herself to read aloud St. Bernard’s dying song; but she +only reached the third verse, and behold his soul had gone. God be +good to him! Amen. Then the little maid, when she saw that he was +dying, ran quickly up to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>my chamber, and waked me. I went down fast, +but he was gone; and I grieved much that I had not been found worthy +to be beside him at his end.”</p> + +<p>At this time Albert took home his brother Hans, who was then twelve +years old, to learn the art of painting in his studio; and his other +young brother, Andreas, the goldsmith’s apprentice, now set forth upon +his <i>Wander-jahre</i>. Within two years his mother, the widowed Barbara, +had exhausted her scanty means; and she also was taken into Dürer’s +home, and lovingly cared for by her son.</p> + +<p>In 1503 Dürer’s frail constitution yielded to an attack of illness. A +drawing of Christ crowned with thorns, now in the British Museum, +bears his inscription: “I drew this face in my sickness, 1503.” In the +same year he executed a copper-plate engraving of a skull emblazoned +on an escutcheon, which is crowned by a winged helmet, and supported +by a weird woman, over whose shoulder a satyr’s face is peering. A +contemporary copper-plate shows the Virgin nursing the Infant Jesus. +The painting of this same subject, bearing the date of 1503, is now in +the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>Vienna Belvedere, portraying an unlovely German mother and a very +earthly baby.</p> + +<p>The celebrated “Green Passion” was executed in 1504, and is a series +of twelve drawings on green paper, illustrating the sufferings of +Christ. Some critics prefer this set, for delicacy and power, to +either of the three engraved Passions. The theory is advanced that +these exquisite drawings were made for the Emperor, or some other +magnate, who wished to possess a unique copy. The Green Passion is now +in the Vienna Albertina, the great collection of drawings made by the +Archduke Albert of Sachsen-Teschen, which includes 160 of Dürer’s +sketches, designs, travel-notes, studies of costume and architecture, +&c.</p> + +<p>Over 600 authentic sketches and drawings by Dürer are now preserved in +Europe, and are of great interest as showing the freedom and firmness +of the great master’s first conceptions, and the gradual evolution of +his ultimate ideas. They are drawn on papers of various colors and +different preparations, with pen, pencil, crayon, charcoal, silver +point, tempera, or water-colors. Some are highly finished, and others +are only <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>rapid jottings or bare outlines. The richest of the ancient +collections was that of Hans Imhoff of Nuremberg, who married +Pirkheimer’s daughter Felicitas, and in due time added his +father-in-law’s Dürer-drawings to his own collection. His son +Willibald further enriched the family art-treasures by many of the +master’s drawings which he bought from Andreas Dürer, and by +inheriting the pictures of Barbara Pirkheimer. He solemnly enjoined in +his will that this great collection should never be alienated, but +should descend through the Imhoff family as an honored possession. His +widow, however, speedily offered to sell the entire series to the +Emperor Rudolph, and it was soon broken up and dispersed. The Earl of +Arundel secured a great number of Dürer’s drawings here, and carried +them to England. In 1637 Arundel bought a large folio containing +nearly 200 of these sketches, which was bequeathed to the British +Museum in 1753 by Sir Hans Sloane. The museum has now one of the best +existing collections of these works, some of which are of rare +interest and value, especially the highly finished water-colors and +pen-drawings.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p><p>The interesting sketch-books used by Dürer on his journeys to Venice +and to the Netherlands remained forgotten in the archives of a noble +Nuremberg family until within less than a century, when the family +became extinct, and its property was dispersed. They were then +acquired by the venerable antiquary Baron von Derschau, who sold them +to Nagler and Heller. Nagler’s share was afterwards acquired by the +Berlin Museum; and Heller’s was bequeathed to the library of Bamberg.</p> + +<p>In 1504 Pirkheimer’s wife Crescentia died in childbirth, after only +two years of married life. Her husband bore witness that she had never +caused him any trouble, except by her death; and engaged Dürer to make +a picture of her death-bed. This work was beautifully executed in +water-colors, and depicts the expiring woman on a great bedstead, +surrounded by many persons, among whom are Pirkheimer and his sister +Charitas, the Abbess, with the Augustinian Prior.</p> + +<p>The exquisite copper-plate engraving of “The Nativity” dates from this +year, and shows the Virgin adoring the new-born Jesus, in the shelter +of a humble German house among massive <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>ancient ruins, while Joseph is +drawing water from the well, and an old shepherd approaches the Child +on his knees. The “Adam and Eve” was also done on copper this year, +with the parents of all mankind, surrounded by animals, and standing +near the tree of knowledge, from which the serpent is delivering the +fatal apple to Eve.</p> + +<p>In the same year Dürer painted a carefully wrought “Adoration of the +Kings,” for the Elector Frederick the Wise of Saxony. It was +afterwards presented by Christian II. to the Emperor Rudolph, and is +now in the Uffizi, at Florence, which contains more pictures by Dürer +than any other gallery outside of Germany. Here also is the +controverted picture of “Calvary,” dated 1505, displaying on one small +canvas all the scenes of the Passion, with an astonishing number of +figures finished in miniature.</p> + +<p>“The Satyr’s Family” is an engraving on copper, showing the +goat-footed father cheerily playing on a pipe, to the evident +amusement of his human wife and child. “The Great Horse” and “The +Little Horse” are similar productions <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>of this period, in which the +commentators vainly strive to find some recondite meaning. Sixteen +engravings on copper were made between 1500 and 1506.</p> + +<p>Dürer has been called “The Chaucer of Painting,” by reason of the +marvellous quaintness of his conceptions; and Ruskin speaks of him as +“intense in trifles, gloomily minute.” His details, minute as they +were, received the most careful study, and were all thought out before +the pictures were begun, so that he neither erased nor altered his +lines, nor made preliminary sketches. He was essentially a thinker who +drew, rather than a drawer who thought.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;">The Journey to Venice.—Bellini’s Friendship.—Letters to +Pirkheimer.—“The Feast of Rose Garlands.”—Bologna.—“Adam and +Eve.”—“The Coronation of the Virgin.”</p></div> + +<p>Late in 1505 Dürer made a journey to Venice, probably with a view to +recover his health, enlarge his circle of friends and patrons, and +study the famous Venetian paintings. He was worn down by continuous +hard work, and weary of the dull uneventfulness of his life, and +hailed an opportunity to rest in sunny Italy. He borrowed money from +Pirkheimer for his journey, and left a small sum for family expenses +during his absence. Between Nuremberg and her rich Southern rival +there was a large commerce, with a weekly post; and many German +merchants and artists were then residing in Venice. Dürer rode down on +horseback; and suffered an attack of illness at Stein, near Laibach, +where he rewarded the artist who had nursed him by painting a picture +on the wall of his house. On arriving at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>Venice, the master was +cordially received, and highly honored by the chief artists and +literati of the city. The heads of Venetian art at that time were +Giovanni Bellini and Carpaccio, both of whom were advanced in years; +and Giorgione and Titian, who were not mentioned by our traveller, +though they were both at work for the Fondaco de’ Tedeschi at the same +time as himself.</p> + +<p>During his residence in Venice he wrote nine long letters to “the +honorable and wise Herr Willibald Pirkheimer, Burgher of Nuremberg,” +which were walled up in the Imhoff mansion during the Thirty Years’ +War, and discovered at a later age. Much of these letters is taken up +with details about Pirkheimer’s commissions for precious stones and +books, or with badinage about the burgher’s private life, with +frequent allusions to the support of the Dürers at home. Of greater +interest are the accounts of the writer’s successes in art, and the +friends whom he met in Venetian society. The letters were embellished +with rude caricatures and grotesques, matching the broad humor of the +jovial allusions in the text. Either Pirkheimer was a man of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>most +riotous life, or Dürer was a bold and pertinacious jester, unwearying +in mock-earnest reproofs. These letters were sealed with the Dürer +crest, composed of a pair of open doors above three steps on a shield, +which was a punning allusion to the name Dürer, or Thürer, <i>Thür</i> +being the German word for <i>door</i>. In the second letter he says,—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“I wish you were in Venice. There are many fine fellows among +the painters, who get more and more friendly with me; it +holds one’s heart up. Well-brought-up folks, good +lute-players, skilled pipers, and many noble and excellent +people, are in the company, all wishing me very well, and +being very friendly. On the other hand, here are the falsest, +most lying, thievish villains in the whole world, appearing +to the unwary the pleasantest possible fellows. I laugh to +myself when they try it with me: the fact is, they know their +rascality is public, though one says nothing. I have many +good friends among the Italians, who warn me not to eat or +drink with their painters; for many of them are my enemies, +and copy my picture in the church, and others of mine +wherever they meet with them; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>and yet, notwithstanding this, +they abuse my works, and say that they are not according to +ancient art, and therefore not good. But Gian Bellini has +praised me highly before several gentlemen, and he wishes to +have something of my painting. He came himself, and asked me +to do something for him, saying that he would pay me well for +it; and all the people here tell me what a good man he is, so +that I also am greatly inclined to him.”</p></div> + +<p>These sentences show the artist’s pleasure at the kindly way in which +the Italians received him, and also reveal the danger in which he +stood of being poisoned by jealous rivals. Another ambiguous sentence +has given rise to the belief that Dürer had visited Venice eleven +years previously, during his <i>Wander-jahre</i>.</p> + +<p>Camerarius says that Bellini was so amazed and delighted at the +exquisite fineness of Dürer’s painting, especially of hair, that he +begged him to give him the brush with which he had done such delicate +work. The Nuremberger offered him any or all of his brushes, but +Bellini asked again for the one with which he had painted the hair; +upon which Dürer took one of his common <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>brushes, and painted a long +tress of woman’s hair. Bellini reported that he would not have +believed such marvellous work possible, if he had not seen it himself.</p> + +<p>The third letter describes the adventures of the inexpert artist in +securing certain sapphires, amethysts, and emeralds for his “dear Herr +Pirkheimer,” and complains that the money earned by painting was all +swallowed up by living expenses. The jealous Venetian painters had +also forced him, by process of law, to pay money to their art-schools.</p> + +<p>His brother Hans was now sixteen years old, and had become a source of +responsibility, for Dürer adds: “With regard to my brother, tell my +mother to speak to Wohlgemuth, and see whether he wants him, or will +give him work till I return, or to others, so that he may help +himself. I would willingly have brought him with me to Venice, which +would have been useful to him and to me, and also on account of his +learning the language; but my mother was afraid that the heavens would +fall upon him and upon me too. I pray you, have an eye to him +yourself: he is lost with the women-folk. Speak to the boy as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>you +well know how to do, and bid him behave well and learn diligently +until I return, and not be a burden to the mother; for I cannot do +every thing, although I will do my best.”</p> + +<p>In the fourth letter he speaks of having traded his pictures for +jewels, and sends greetings to his friend Baumgärtner, saying also: +“Know that by the grace of God I am well, and that I am working +diligently.... I wish that it suited you to be here. I know you would +find the time pass quickly, for there are many agreeable people here, +very good amateurs; and I have sometimes such a press of strangers to +visit me, that I am obliged to hide myself; and all the gentlemen wish +me well, but very few of the painters.”</p> + +<p>The fifth letter opens with a long complimentary flourish in a +barbarous mixture of Italian and Spanish, and then chaffs Pirkheimer +unmercifully for his increasing intrigues. It also thanks Pirkheimer +for trying to placate Agnes Frey, who is evidently much disappointed +because her husband lingers so long at Venice. The Prior Eucharius is +besought to pray that Dürer might be delivered from the new and +terrible “French disease,” then fatally prevalent in Italy. Mention is +made <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>of Andreas, the goldsmith, Dürer’s brother, meeting him at +Venice, and borrowing money to relieve his distress.</p> + +<p>The next letter starts off with quaint mock-deference, and alludes to +the splendid Venetian soldiery, and their contempt of the Emperor. +Farther on are unintelligible allusions, and passages too vulgar for +translation. He says that the Doge and Patriarch had visited his +studio to inspect the new picture, and that he had effectually +silenced the artists who claimed that he was only good at engraving, +and could not use colors. Soon afterwards he writes about the +completion of his great painting of the Rose Garlands; and says, +“There is no better picture of the Virgin Mary in the land, because +all the artists praise it, as well as the nobility. They say they have +never seen a more sublime, a more charming painting.” He adds that he +had declined orders to the amount of over 2,000 ducats, in order to +return home, and was then engaged in finishing a few portraits.</p> + +<p>The last letter congratulates Pirkheimer on his political successes, +but expresses a fear lest “so great a man will never go about the +streets <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>again talking with the poor painter Dürer,—with a poltroon +of a painter.” In response to Pirkheimer’s threat of making love to +his wife if he remained away longer, he said that if such was done, he +might keep Agnes until her death. He also tells how he had been +attending a dancing-school, but could not learn the art, and retired +in disgust after two lessons.</p> + +<p>The picture which Dürer painted for the Fondaco de’ Tedeschi was until +recently supposed to be a “St. Bartholomew;” but it is now believed +that it was the renowned “Feast of Rose Garlands,” which is now at the +Bohemian Monastery of Strahow. He worked hard on this picture for +seven months, and was proud of its beauty and popularity. The Emperor +Rudolph II. bought it from the church in which it was set up, and had +it carried on men’s shoulders all the way from Venice to Prague, to +avoid the dangers attending other modes of conveyance. When Joseph II. +sold his pictures, in 1782, this one was bought by the Abbey of +Strahow, and remained buried in oblivion for three-quarters of a +century. The picture shows the Virgin sitting under a canopy and a +star-strewn crown held by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>flying cherubs, with the graceful Child in +her lap. She is placing a crown of roses on the head of the Emperor +Maximilian, while Jesus places another on the head of the Pope; and a +monk on one side is similarly honored by St. Dominic, the founder of +the Feast of the Rose Garlands. A multitude of kneeling men and women +on either side are being crowned with roses by merry little +child-angels, flying through the air; while on the extreme right, +Dürer and Pirkheimer are seen standing by a tree.</p> + +<p>Pirkheimer and Agnes had both been urging the master to return; but he +seemed reluctant to exchange the radiance of Italy for the quietness +of his home-circle, and mournfully exclaims, “Oh, how I shall freeze +after this sunshine! Here I am a gentleman, at home only a parasite!” +A brilliant career was open before him at Venice, whose Government +offered him a pension of 200 ducats; but his sense of duty compelled +him to return to Germany, though in bitterness of spirit. Before +turning Northward he rode to Bologna, “because some one there will +teach me the secret art of perspective” (Francesco Francia); and met +Christopher Scheurl, who greatly admired him. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>A year later Raphael +also came to Bologna, and saw some works left there by Dürer, from +which arose an intimate correspondence and exchanges of pictures +between the artists. The master had been invited to visit the +venerable Mantegna, at Mantua; but that Nestor of North-Italian art +died before the plan was carried out. Dürer afterwards told Camerarius +that this death “caused him more grief than any mischance that had +befallen him during his life.”</p> + +<p>Art-critics agree in rejoicing that Dürer conquered the temptations +which were held out to him from the gorgeous Italian city, and +returned to his plain life in the cold North. He escaped the danger of +sacrificing his individualism to the glowing and sensuous Venetian +school of art, and preserved the quaintness and vigor of his own +Gothic inspirations for the joy of future ages.</p> + +<p>The marine backgrounds in many of Dürer’s later pictures are referred +by Ruskin to the artist’s pleasant memories of Venice, “where he +received the rarest of all rewards granted to a good workman; and, for +once in his life, was understood.” Other and wilder landscapes in his +woodcuts were reminiscences of the pastoral regions of the Franconian +Switzerland.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p><p>The personal history of Dürer between 1507 and 1520 was barren of +details, but evidently full of earnest work, as existing pictures bear +witness. It was the golden period of his art-life, abounding in +productiveness. His workshop was the seat of the chief art-school in +Nuremberg, and contained many excellent young painters and engravers, +to whom the master delivered his wise axioms and earnest thoughts in +rich profusion.</p> + +<p>During this period, also, he probably executed certain of his best +works in carving, which are hereinafter described. Dr. Thausing denies +that Dürer used the chisel of the sculptor to any extent, and refuses +to accept the genuineness of the carvings which the earlier +biographers have attributed to him. Scott is of the opinion that in +most cases these rich and delicate works were executed by other +persons, either from his drawings or under his inspection.</p> + +<p>On his return from Venice, Dürer painted life-sized nude figures of +Adam and Eve, representing them with the fatal apple in their hands, +at the moment of the Fall. They are well designed in outline, but +possess a certain anatomical hardness, lacking in grace and mobility. +They were greatly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>admired by the Nurembergers, in whose Rath-haus +they were placed; but were at length presented to the Emperor Rudolph +II. He replaced them with copies, which Napoleon, in 1796, supposed to +be Dürer’s original works, and removed to Paris. He afterwards +presented them to the town of Mayence, where they are still exhibited +as Dürer’s. The true originals passed into Spain, where they were +first redeemed from oblivion by Passavant, about the year 1853. A copy +of the Adam and Eve, which was executed in Dürer’s studio and under +his care, is now at the Pitti Palace.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1507 Dürer met at the house of his brother-in-law +Jacob Frey, the rich Frankfort merchant Jacob Heller, who commissioned +him to paint an altar-piece. He was delayed by a prolonged attack of +fever in the summer, and by the closing works on the Elector’s +picture.</p> + +<p>Between 1507 and 1514 (inclusive) Dürer made forty-eight engravings +and etchings, and over a hundred woodcuts, bespeaking an iron +diligence and a remarkable power of application. The rapid sale of +these works in frequent new editions gave a large income to their +author, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>placed him in a comfortable position among the burghers +of Nuremberg. The religious excitement then prevailing throughout +Europe, on the eve of the Reformation, increased the demand for his +engravings of the Virgin, the saints, and the great Passion series.</p> + +<p>In 1508 Dürer finished the painting of “The Martyrdom of the Ten +Thousand Christians,” to which he professed to have given all his time +for a year. It was ordered by Frederick of Saxony, the patron of Lucas +Cranach, who had seen the master’s woodcut of the same subject, and +desired it reproduced in an oil-painting. It is a painful and +unpleasant scene, full of brutality and horror; and the picture is +devoid of unity, though conspicuous for clear and brilliant coloring. +Dürer and Pirkheimer stand in the middle of the foreground.</p> + +<p>On the completion of this work the master wrote to Heller, “No one +shall persuade me to work according to what I am paid.” He then began +Heller’s altar-piece, under unnecessary exhortation “to paint his +picture well,” and made a great number of careful studies for the new +composition. When fairly under way, he demanded <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>200 florins for his +work instead of the 130 florins of the contract-price, which drew an +angry answer from the frugal merchant, with accusations of dishonesty. +The artist rejoined sharply, dwelling upon the great cost of the +colors and the length of the task, yet offering to carry out his +contract in order to save his good faith. Throughout the next year +Heller stimulated the painter to hasten his work, until Dürer became +angry, and threw up the commission. He was soon induced to resume it, +and completed the picture in the summer of 1509, upon which the +delighted merchant paid him gladly, and sent handsome presents to his +wife and brother. Dürer wrote to Heller, “It will last fresh and clean +for five hundred years, for it is not done as ordinary paintings +are.... But no one shall ever again persuade me to undertake a +painting with so much work in it. Herr Jorg Tauss offered himself to +pay me 400 florins for a Virgin in a landscape, but I declined +positively, for I should become a beggar by this means. Henceforward I +will stick to my engraving; and, if I had done so before, I should be +richer by a thousand florins than I am to-day.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p><p>The picture which caused so much argument and toil was “The Coronation +of the Virgin,” which was set up over the bronze monument of the +Heller family in the Dominican Church at Frankfort. Its exquisite +delicacy of execution attracted great crowds to the church, and +quickly enriched the monastery. Singularly enough, the most famous +part of the picture was the sole of the foot of one of the kneeling +Apostles, which was esteemed such a marvellous work that great sums +were offered to have it cut out of the canvas. The Emperor Rudolph II. +offered the immense amount of 10,000 florins for the painting, in +vain; but in 1613 it passed into the possession of Maximilian of +Bavaria, and was destroyed in the burning of the palace at Munich, +sixty years later. So the renowned picture, which Dürer said gave him +“more joy and satisfaction than any other he ever undertook,” passed +away, leaving no engraving or other memorial, save a copy by Paul +Juvenal. This excellent reproduction is now at Nuremberg, and is +provided with the original wings, beautifully painted by Dürer, +showing on one the portrait of Jacob Heller and the death of St. +James, and on the other Heller’s wife, and the martyrdom of St. +Catherine.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p><p>In 1501 the burgher Schiltkrot and the pious copper-smith Matthäus +Landäuer founded the House of the Twelve Brothers, an alms-house for +poor old men of Nuremberg; and eight years later, Landäuer ordered +Dürer to paint an altar-piece of “The Adoration of the Trinity,” for +its chapel. Much of the master’s time for the next two years was +devoted to this great work.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;">Dürer’s House.—His Poetry.—Sculptures.—The Great and Little +Passions.—Life of the Virgin.—Plagiarists.—Works for the Emperor +Maximilian.</p></div> + +<p>Some time after his marriage with Agnes Frey, Dürer moved into the new +house near the Thiergärtner Gate, which had perhaps been bought with +the dowry of his bride. Here he labored until his death, and executed +his most famous works. It is a spacious house, with a lower story of +stone, wide portals, a paved interior court, and pleasant upper rooms +between thick half-timber walls, whose mullioned windows look out on +lines of quaint Gothic buildings and towers, and on the broad paved +square at the foot of the Zisselgasse (now Albrecht-Dürer-Strasse). +Just across the square was the so-called “Pilate’s House,” whose +owner, Martin Koetzel, had made two pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and +brought back measurements of the Dolorous Way. The artist’s house is +now carefully preserved as public property, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>and contains the gallery +of the Dürer Art-Union. In 1828, on the third centennial of his death, +the people erected a bronze statue of the master, designed by Rauch, +on the square before the house.</p> + +<p>In 1509-10 Dürer derived pleasure and furnished much amusement to his +friends from verse-making, in which he suffered a worse failure even +than Raphael had done. It seems that Pirkheimer ridiculed a long-drawn +couplet which he had made, upon which the master composed a neat bit +of proverbial philosophy, of which the following is a translation:—</p> + +<div class="centerbox4 bbox3"><p>“Strive earnestly with all thy might,<br /> +That God should give thee Wisdom’s light;<br /> +He doth his wisdom truly prove,<br /> +Whom neither death nor riches move;<br /> +And he shall also be called wise,<br /> +Who joy and sorrow both defies;<br /> +He who bears both honor and shame,<br /> +He well deserves the wise man’s name;<br /> +Who knows himself, and evil shuns,<br /> +In Wisdom’s path he surely runs;<br /> +Who ’gainst his foe doth vengeance cherish,<br /> +In hell-flame cloth his wisdom perish;<br /> +Who strives against the Devil’s might,<br /> +The Lord will help him in the fight;<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>Who keeps his heart forever pure,<br /> +He of Wisdom’s crown is sure;<br /> +And who loves God with all his heart,<br /> +Chooses the wise and better part.”</p></div> + +<p>But Pirkheimer was not more pleased with this; and the witty Secretary +Spengler sent Dürer a satirical poem, applying the moral of the fable +of the shoemaker who criticised a picture by Apelles. He answered this +in a song of sixty lines, closing with,—</p> + +<div class="centerbox4 bbox3"><p>“Therefore I will still make rhymes,<br /> +Though my friend may laugh at times:<br /> +So the Painter with hairy beard<br /> +Says to the Writer who mocked and jeered.”</p></div> + +<p>“1510, this have I made on Good and Bad Friends.” Thus the master +prefaces a platitudinous poem of thirty lines; which was soon followed +by “The Teacher,” of sixty lines. Later in the year he wrote the long +Passion-Song, which was appended to the print of <i>Christus am Kreuz</i>. +It is composed of eight sections, of ten lines each, and is full of +quaint mediæval tenderness and reverence, and the intense +prayerfulness of the old German faith. The sections <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>are named Matins, +the First, Third, Sixth, and Ninth Hours, Vespers, Compline, and Let +Us Pray, the latter of which is redolent with earnest devotion:—</p> + +<div class="centerbox5 bbox3"><p>“O Almighty Lord and God,<br /> +Who the martyr’s press hast trod;<br /> +Jesus, the only God, the Son,<br /> +Who all this to Thyself hast done,<br /> +Keep it before us to-day and to-morrow,<br /> +Give us continual rue and sorrow;<br /> +Wash me clean, and make me well,<br /> +I pray Thee, like a soul from hell.<br /> +Lord, Thou hast overcome: look down;<br /> +Let us at last to share the crown.”</p></div> + +<p>The marvellous high-relief of “The Birth of St. John the Baptist” was +executed in 1510, and shows Dürer’s remarkable powers as a sculptor. +It is cut in a block of cream-colored lithographic stone, 7½ × +5½ inches in size, and is full of rich and minute pictorial +details. Elizabeth is rising in bed, aided by two attendants; and the +old nurse brings the infant to Zacharias, who writes its name on a +tablet, while two men are entering at the doorway. The room is +furnished with the usual utensils and properties of a German bedroom. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>This wonderful and well-preserved work of art was bought in the +Netherlands about eighty years ago, for $2,500, and is now in the +British Museum. The companion-piece, “St. John the Baptist Preaching +in the Wilderness,” is now in the Brunswick Museum, and is carved with +a similar rich effect. This museum also contains a carving in wood, +representing the “Ecce Homo.”</p> + +<p>Space would fail to tell of the many beautiful little pieces of +sculpture which Dürer executed in ivory, boxwood, and stone, or of the +numerous excellently designed medals ascribed to him. Chief among +these was the exquisite “Birth of Christ,” and the altar of agate, +formerly at Vienna; Adam and Eve, in wood, at Gotha; reliefs of the +Birth and the Agony of Christ, in ivory; the Four Evangelists, in +boxwood, lately at Baireuth; several carvings on ivory, of religious +scenes, at Munich; a woman with padlocked mouth, sitting in the +stocks, cut in soapstone; a delicate relief of the Flight into Egypt; +busts of the Duke and Duchess of Burgundy; and the Love-Fountain, now +at Dresden, with figures of six persons drinking the water.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p><p>The famous painting of “The Adoration of the Trinity” was finished in +1511, and represents God the Father holding up His crucified Son for +the worship of an immense congregation of saints, while overhead is +the mystic Dove, surrounded by a circle of winged cherubs’ heads. The +kneeling multitude includes princes, prelates, warriors, burghers, and +peasants, equally accepting the Athanasian dogma. On the left is a +great group of female saints, led by the sweet and stately Virgin +Mary; and on the right are the kneeling prophets and apostles, Moses +with the tables of the Law, and David with his harp. On the broad +terrestrial landscape, far below, Dürer stands alone, by a tall tablet +bearing the Latin inscription of his name and the date of the picture. +The whole scene is full of light and splendor, delicate beauty of +angels, and exquisite minuteness of finish. A century later the Rath +of Nuremberg removed this picture from the sepulchral chapel of its +founder, and presented it to the Emperor Rudolph II. It is now one of +the gems of the Vienna Belvedere.</p> + +<p>About this time the master’s brother Andreas, the goldsmith, returned +to Nuremberg after his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>long wanderings, and eased the evident anxiety +of his family by settling respectably in life. Hans was still in his +brother’s studio, where he learned his art so well that he afterwards +became court-painter to the King of Poland.</p> + +<p>In 1511 Dürer published a third edition of the engravings of the +Apocalypse, with a warning to piratical engravers that the Emperor had +forbidden the sale of copies or impressions other than those of the +author, within the Empire, under heavy penalties to transgressors. To +the same year belong three of the master’s greatest works in engraving +on wood.</p> + +<p>“The Great Passion” contains twelve folio woodcuts, unequal in their +execution, and probably made by different workmen of varying +abilities. The vignette is an “Ecce Homo;” and the other subjects are, +the Last Supper, Christ at Gethsemane, His Betrayal, the Scourging, +the Mockery, Christ Bearing the Cross, the Crucifixion, the Descent +into Hell, the Maries Mourning over Christ’s Body, the Entombment, and +the Resurrection. These powerful delineations of the Agony of Our Lord +are characterized by rare originality of conception, pathos, and +grandeur. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>They were furnished with Latin verses by the monk +Chelidonius, and bore the imperial warning against imitation. Four +large editions were printed from these cuts, and numerous copies, +especially in Italy, where the Emperor’s edict was inoperative.</p> + +<p>“The Little Passion” was a term applied by Dürer himself to +distinguish his series of thirty-seven designs from the larger +pictures of “The Great Passion.” It is the best-known of the master’s +engravings; and has been published in two editions at Nuremberg, a +third at Venice in 1612, and a fourth at London in 1844. The blocks +are now in the British Museum, and show plainly that they were not +engraved by Dürer. This great pictorial scene of the fall and +redemption of man begins with the sin of Adam and Eve, and their +expulsion from Eden, and follows with thirty-three compositions from +the life and passion of Christ, ending with the Descent of the Holy +Ghost and the Last Judgment. Its title was <i>Figuræ Passionis Domini +Nostri Jesu Christi</i>; and it was furnished with a set of the Latin +verses of Chelidonius.</p> + +<p>The third of Dürer’s great works in wood-engraving <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>was “The +Life of the Virgin,” with explanatory Latin verses by the Benedictine +Chelidonius. This was published in 1511, and contains twenty pictures, +full of realistic plainness and domestic homeliness, yet displaying +marvellous skill and power of invention. To the same year belong the +master’s engravings of the Trinity, St. Christopher, St. Gregory’s +Mass, St. Jerome, St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata, the Holy Family +with the Guitar, Herodias and the Head of John the Baptist, and the +Adoration of the Magi; and the copper-plates of the Crucifixion and +the Virgin with the Pear.</p> + +<p>Dürer was much afflicted by the boldness of many imitators, who +plagiarized his engravings without stint, and flooded the market with +pictures from his designs. His rights were protected but poorly by the +edicts of the Emperor and the city of Nuremberg; and a swarm of +parasitical copyists reproduced every fresh design as soon as it was +published. Marc Antonio Raimondi, the great Italian engraver who +worked so many years with Raphael, was the most dangerous of these +plagiarists, and reproduced “The Little Passion” and “The Life of the +Virgin” in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>a most exquisite manner, close after their publication. +Vasari says, “It happened that at this time certain Flemings came to +Venice with a great many prints, engraved both in wood and copper by +Albert Dürer, which being seen by Marc Antonio in the Square of St. +Mark, he was so much astonished by their style of execution, and the +skill displayed by Albert, that he laid out on those prints almost all +the money he had brought with him from Bologna, and amongst other +things purchased ‘The Passion of Jesus Christ,’ engraved on thirty-six +wooden blocks.... Marc Antonio therefore, having considered how much +honor as well as advantage might be acquired by one who should devote +himself to that art in Italy, resolved to attend to it with the +greatest diligence, and immediately began to copy these engravings of +Albert, studying their mode of hatching, and every thing else in the +prints he had purchased, which from their novelty as well as beauty, +were in such repute that every one desired to possess them.”</p> + +<p>It appears that Marc Antonio was afterwards enjoined from using +Dürer’s monogram on his copies of the Nuremberger’s engravings, either +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>by imperial diplomatic representations to the Italian courts, or else +as the result of a visit which some claim that Dürer made to Italy for +that purpose. Many of the copies of Marc Antonio were rather idealized +adaptations than exact reproductions of the German’s designs, but were +furnished with the forged monogram A. D., and sold for Dürer’s works. +Sixty-nine of our artist’s engravings were copied by the skilful +Italian, profoundly influencing Southern art by the manual dexterity +of the North. This wholesale piracy was carried on between 1505 and +1511, and before Marc Antonio passed under Raphael’s overmastering +influence.</p> + +<p>In later years the Rath of Nuremberg warned the booksellers of the +city against selling false copies of Dürer’s engravings, and sent +letters to the authorities of Augsburg, Leipsic, Frankfort, +Strasbourg, and Antwerp, asking them to put a stop to such sales +within their jurisdictions. His works have been copied by more than +three hundred artists, the best of whom were Solis, Rota, the Hopfers, +Wierx, Vischer, Schön, and Kraus.</p> + +<p>In 1512 Dürer made most of the plates for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>“The Passion in Copper,” a +series of sixteen engravings on copper, which was begun in 1507 and +finished in 1513. These plates show the terrible scenes of the last +griefs of the Saviour, surrounded with uncouth German men and women, +buildings and landscapes, yet permeated with mysterious reverence and +solemn simplicity. The series was never published in book form, with +descriptive text, but the engravings were put forth singly as soon as +completed. The prints of “Christ Bound” and “St. Jerome” were +published this same year.</p> + +<p>In 1512 Dürer was first employed by the Emperor Maximilian, who was +not only a patron of the arts but also an artist himself, and +munificently employed the best painters of Germany, though his +treasury was usually but poorly filled. Science and literature also +occupied much of his attention; and, while his realm was engaged in +perpetual wars, he kept up a careful correspondence on profound themes +with many of the foremost thinkers of his day. The records of his +intercourse with Dürer are most meagre, though during the seven years +of their connection they must have had many interviews, especially +while the imperial portrait was being made.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p><p>Melanchthon tells a pretty story, which he heard from Dürer himself. +One day the artist was finishing a sketch for the Emperor, who, while +waiting, attempted to make a drawing himself with one of the +charcoal-crayons; but the charcoal kept breaking away, and he +complained that he could accomplish nothing with it. Dürer then took +it from his hand, saying, “This is my sceptre, your Majesty;” and +afterwards taught the sovereign how to use it.</p> + +<p>The story which is told of so many geniuses who have risen from low +estate is applied also to this one: The Emperor once declared to a +noble who had proudly declined to perform some trivial service for the +artist, “Out of seven ploughboys I can, if I please, make seven lords, +but out of seven lords I cannot make one Dürer.”</p> + +<p>Tradition states that the Emperor ennobled Dürer, and gave him a +coat-of-arms. Possibly this was the crest used in his later years, +consisting of three shields on a blue field, above which is a closed +helmet supporting the armless bust and head of a winged negro!</p> + +<p>The idea of the immense woodcut of the Triumphal Arch of Maximilian +was conceived <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>after 1512, either by the Emperor or by the +poet-laureate Stabius; and Dürer was chosen to put it into execution. +The history of the deeds of Maximilian, with his ancestry and family +alliances, was to be displayed in the form of a pictorial triumphal +arch, “after the manner of those erected in honor of the Roman +emperors.” The master demanded payment in advance, and received an +order from the Emperor to the Rath of Nuremberg to hold “his and the +Empire’s true and faithful Albert Dürer exempt from all the town taxes +and rates, in consideration of our esteem for his skill in art.” But +he surrendered this immunity, in deference to the wishes of the Rath; +and Maximilian granted him an annual pension of 100 florins ($200), +which was paid, however, somewhat reluctantly.</p> + +<p>“The Knight, Death, and the Devil,” is the most celebrated of Dürer’s +engravings, and dates from 1513. It shows a panoplied knight riding +through a rocky defile, with white-bearded Death advancing alongside +and holding up an hour-glass, and the loathsome Satan pursuing hard +after and clutching at the undismayed knight. The numerous +commentators on this picture variously <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>interpret its meaning, some +saying that the knight is an evil-doer, intent on wicked purposes, +whom Death warns to repentance, while Satan rushes to seize him; +others, and the most, that he is the Christian man, fearless among the +menaces of Death and Hell, and steadily advancing in spite of the +horrible apparitions. Others claim that the Knight represents Franz +von Sickingen, a turbulent hero of the Reformation; or Philip Ring, +the Nuremberg herald, who was confronted by the Devil on one of his +night-rides; or Dürer himself, beset by temptations and fears; or +Stephen Baumgärtner, the master’s friend, whose portrait bears a +resemblance to the knight’s face. Still another interpretation is +given in the romance of “Sintram and his Companions,” which was +suggested by this engraving, as we are told by its author, La Motte +Fouqué.</p> + +<p>Kugler says: “I believe I do not exaggerate when I particularize this +print as the most important work which the fantastic spirit of German +art has ever produced.” It was made in Dürer’s blooming time, and the +plate is a wonderful specimen of delicate and exquisite execution. It +has frequently been copied, in many forms.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p><p>“The Little Crucifixion” is one of the most exquisitely finished of +Dürer’s engravings on copper, and is a small round picture, about one +inch in diameter, which was made for an ornament on the pommel of the +Emperor’s sword. It contains seven figures, full of clearness and +individuality, and engraved with marvellous skill. There are, +fortunately, several very beautiful copies of this print. Other +copper-plates of 1513 were “The Judgment of Paris,” and the small +round “St. Jerome.”</p> + +<p>The famous Baumgärtner altar-piece was painted for the patrician +family of that name, as a votive picture, in thanksgiving for the safe +return of its knightly members from the Swiss campaigns. Nuremberg +unwillingly surrendered it to Maximilian of Bavaria, and it is now in +the Munich Pinakothek. It consists of a central picture of “The +Nativity,” of no special merit, with two wings, the first of which +shows Stephen Baumgärtner, a meagre-faced and resolute knight, in the +character of St. George, while the other portrays the plain-mannered +and practical Lucas Baumgärtner, in the garb of St. Eustachius. These +excellent portrait-figures are clad in armor, and stand by the sides +of their horses.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p><p>The “Vision of St. Eustachius” was executed on copper-plate, and is +one of Dürer’s most delicate and beautiful works. It shows the +huntsman Eustachius as a strong and earnest German mystic, kneeling +before the miraculous crucifix set in the stag’s forehead, which has +appeared to convict him of his sins, and to stimulate in him that +faith by which he led a new life of prayer and praise, and won a +martyr’s crown. His solemn-faced horse seems to realize that a miracle +is taking place; and in the foreground are five delicately drawn +hounds. On the steep hill in the rear a noble and picturesque mediæval +castle rears its battlemented towers above long lines of cliffs. +Tradition says that the face of Eustachius is a portrait of the +Emperor Maximilian. When the Emperor Rudolph secured the original +plate of the engraving, he had it richly gilded.</p> + +<p>“The Great Fortune,” or “The Nemesis,” is a copper-plate showing a +repulsively ugly naked woman, with wings, holding a rich chalice and a +bridle, while on the earth below is a beautiful mountain village +between two confluent rivers. Sandrart says that this is the Hungarian +village of Eytas, where Dürer’s father was born; but <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>there is no +proof of this theory. “The Coat-of-Arms with the Cock” is a fine +copper-plate, with some obscure allegorical significance, +representing, perhaps, Vigilance by the cock which stands on a closed +helmet, and Faith by the rampant lion on the shield below.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;">St. Jerome.—The Melencolia.—Death of Dürer’s +Mother.—Raphael.—Etchings.—Maximilian’s Arch.—Visit to Augsburg.</p></div> + +<p>The copper-plate engraving of “St. Jerome in his Chamber” was executed +in 1514, and is one of Dürer’s three greatest works, a marvel of +brilliancy and beauty, full of accurate detail and minute perfection. +The saint has a grand and venerable head, firmly outlined against a +white halo, and is sitting in a cheerful monastic room, lighted by the +sun streaming through two large arched windows, while he writes at his +desk, translating the Scriptures. In the foreground the lion of St. +Jerome is drowsing, alongside a fat watch-dog; a huge pumpkin hangs +from one of the oaken beams overhead; and patristic tomes and +convenient German utensils are scattered about the room.</p> + +<p>“The Virgin on the Crescent Moon” was a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>copper-plate executed also in +1514, showing the graceful and charming Mary, treated with an idealism +which almost suggests Raphael. This is one of the best of the +seventeen Mary-pictures (<i>Marien-bilder</i>) which Dürer executed in +copper. Other copper-plates of 1514 represented Sts. Paul and Thomas, +the Bagpipe-Player, and a Dancing Rustic and his Wife.</p> + +<p>“The Melencolia” is the most weirdly fascinating of Dürer’s works, and +the most mysterious and variously interpreted. It represents a woman, +goddess, or devil, fully clad, and bearing keys and a purse at her +girdle, her head wreathed with spleenwort, and great wings springing +from her shoulders; the while she gazes intently, and with unutterable +melancholy, into a magic crystal globe before her. On one side a +drowsy Cupid is trying to write, near a ladder which rises from unseen +depths to unimagined heights; and on the wall are the balanced scales, +the astrological table of figures, the hour-glass running low, and the +silent bell. The floor is strewn with scientific and necromantic +instruments, and a great cube of strange form lies beyond. The +prevailing gloom of the picture is but dimly lighted by a lurid and +solitary <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>comet, whose rays shimmer along an expanse of black ocean, +and are reflected from a firm-arched rainbow above. Across the +alternately black and blazing sky flies a horrible bat-winged +creature, bearing a scroll inscribed with the word <span class="smcap">Melencolia</span>, before +the blank negations symbolized by the disastrous portent of the comet +and the joyous sign of the rainbow.</p> + +<p>Under the guise of this mystic black-browed woman the artist probably +typifies the profound sorrow of the human soul, checked by Divine +limitations from attaining a full knowledge of the secrets of nature +or the wisdom of heaven. The discarded implements of natural and +occult science are alike useless; and nought remains but gloomy +introspection and a consciousness of insufficiency.</p> + +<p>Dürer describes his mother’s death with mournful tenderness and +touching simplicity, saying: “Now you must know that in the year 1513, +on a Tuesday in Cross-week, my poor unhappy mother, whom I had taken +under my charge two years after my father’s death, because she was +then quite poor, and who had lived with me for nine years, was taken +deathly sick on one morning <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>early, so that we had to break open her +room; for we knew not, as she could not get up, what to do. So we bore +her down into a room, and she had the sacraments in both kinds +administered to her, for every one thought that she was going to die, +for she had been failing in health ever since my father’s death. And +her custom was to go often to church; and she always punished me when +I did not act rightly, and she always took great care to keep me and +my brothers from sin; and, whether I went in or out, her constant word +was, ‘In the name of Christ;’ and with great diligence she constantly +gave us holy exhortations, and had great care over our souls. And her +good works, and the loving compassion that she showed to every one, I +can never sufficiently set forth to her praise. This my good mother +bore and brought up eighteen children; she has often had the +pestilence and many other dangerous and remarkable illnesses; has +suffered great poverty, scoffing, disparagement, spiteful words, +fears, and great reverses: yet she has never been revengeful. A year +after the day on which she was first taken ill ... my pious mother +departed in a Christian manner, with all sacraments, absolved <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>by +Papal power from pain and sin. She gave me her blessing, and desired +for me God’s peace, and that I should keep myself from evil. And she +desired also St. John’s blessing, which she had, and she said she was +not afraid to come before God. But she died hard; and I perceived that +she saw something terrible, for she kept hold of the holy water, and +did not speak for a long time. I saw also how Death came, and gave her +two great blows on the heart; and how she shut her eyes and mouth, and +departed in great sorrow. I prayed for her, and had such great grief +for her that I can never express. God be gracious to her! Her greatest +joy was always to speak of God, and to do all to his honor and glory. +And she was sixty-three years old when she died, and I buried her +honorably according to my means. God the Lord grant that I also make a +blessed end, and that God with his heavenly hosts, and my father, +mother, and friend, be present at my end, and that the Almighty God +grant us eternal life! Amen. And in her death she looked still more +lovely than she was in her life.”</p> + +<p>In 1514 the prince of Italian painters and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>noblest of German +artists exchanged pleasant civilities by correspondence, accompanied +by specimens of their labors. Dürer sent to Raphael his own portrait, +which was afterwards inherited and dearly prized by Giulio Romano. +Raphael returned several of his own studies and drawings, one of +which, showing two naked men drawn in red crayon, is now preserved in +the Albertina at Vienna. It still bears Dürer’s inscription: “Raphael +of Urbino, who is so highly esteemed by the Pope, has drawn this study +from the nude, and has sent it to Albert Dürer at Nuremberg, in order +to show him his hand.”</p> + +<p>The invention of the art of etching has been generally attributed to +Dürer, though it now seems that he merely improved and perfected the +process. There are but few etchings in existence which can certainly +be ascribed to him; and the chief of these, an “Ecce Homo” and “Christ +in the Garden,” date from 1515. The iron plate of the latter was found +two centuries later, in a blacksmith’s shop, where it was about to be +made into horse-shoes. A third etching represents a frightfully homely +woman being carried off by a man on a unicorn, a wild and +incomprehensible composition, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>calculated to awaken an uncomfortable +impression in the beholder. Some of the etchings were on iron, and +others on pewter; but none were on copper, which was afterwards +universally used. The corrosive nitrous acid acted inefficiently on +the metals which he employed, and so his etchings fall short of +excellence.</p> + +<p>In 1514 Jorg Vierling uttered disgraceful libels and threats against +Dürer, and finally attacked him in the street. He was imprisoned by +the authorities; but the kind-hearted artist interceded for him, and +he was released, after being bound over to keep the peace.</p> + +<p>In the same year Dürer wrote to Herr Kress to see if the laureate +Stabius had done any thing about his delayed pension; saying also, +“But if Herr Stabius has done nothing in my matter, or my desire was +too difficult for him to attain, then I pray of you to be my favorable +lord to his Majesty.... Point out to his Majesty that I have served +his Majesty for three years, that I have suffered loss myself from +doing so, and that if I had not used my utmost diligence his +ornamental work would never have been finished in such a manner; +therefore I pray his Majesty to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>reward me with the 100 guilders.” In +September an imperial decree was issued, giving Dürer his promised +pension of $200 a year out of the tax due from Nuremberg to the +Emperor. This annuity was paid to the artist until his death, with one +short intermission.</p> + +<p>Dürer executed for the Emperor a series of most fantastic and +grotesque pen-drawings, on the borders of his prayer-book, now in the +Munich town-library. Alongside the solemn sentences of the breviary +are whimsical monkeys and pigs, Indians and men-at-arms, satyrs and +foxes, screeching devils and saints, hens and prophets, martyrs and +German crones, mingled in a weird wonderland, and not inappropriate +according to mediæval ideas of taste. “The Great Column” is another +quaint and inexplicable engraving, which Dürer did for the Emperor in +1517, and is composed of four blocks 5⅓ feet high. It shows two +naked angels holding a large turnip, from which springs a tall column +with two horrible female monsters at the base, and a horned satyr at +the top, holding long garlands.</p> + +<p>The marvellous “Triumphal Arch of Maximilian” <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>is composed of +ninety-two blocks, forming an immense woodcut ten and a half feet high +and nine feet wide. It shows three great towers, under which are the +three gates of Praise, Nobility, and Honor and Power, with the six +chained harpies of temptation, and two vigilant Archdukes in armor, +and figures holding garlands and crowns. The great genealogical tree +rises above the figures that represent France, Sycambria, and Troy, +and bears portrait-like half-figures of the twenty-six Christian +princes from whom Maximilian claimed descent, with pictures of himself +and his family. There are also twenty-four minutely delicate cuts, +showing the most remarkable events in the Emperor’s life, accompanied +with rugged explanatory rhymes by the poet-laureate. Dr. von Eye says +that “the extent and difficulty of the task appear to have called +forth the powers of the artist to their highest exercise. In no work +of Dürer’s do we find more beautiful drawing than there is here. Each +single piece might be taken out and prized as an independent work of +art.”</p> + +<p>The master drew these very elaborate and intricate designs between +1512 and 1515; and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>enormous work of engraving them was devolved +upon Hieronymus Rösch of Nuremberg. During its progress the Emperor +frequently visited Rösch’s house in the Fraüengässlein; and it became +a town saying, that “The Emperor still drives often to Petticoat +Lane.” On one of his visits, a number of the artist’s pet cats ran +into his presence; whence, it is said, arose the proverb, “A cat may +look at a King.”</p> + +<p>In 1516 Dürer painted a fine portrait of Wohlgemuth, now at Munich, +showing a wrinkled old face lit up by bright eyes, and inscribed, +“This portrait has Albert Dürer painted after his master Michael +Wohlgemuth, in the year 1516, when he was 82 years old; and he lived +until the year 1519, when he died, on St. Andrew’s Day, early, before +the sun had risen.” About the same period he designed and partly +executed the Pietà, which is now in the St. Maurice Gallery at +Nuremberg; and carved a Virgin and Child standing on the crescent +moon, similar to the one which he had engraved three years before.</p> + +<p>In 1518 Dürer also painted the scene of the death-bed of the Empress +Mary of Burgundy, under the title of “The Death of the Virgin,” <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>and +on the order of Von Zlatko, the Bishop of Vienna. The Emperor +Maximilian, Philip of Spain, Bishop Zlatko, and other notables, were +shown around the couch. This large and important work was in the sale +of the Fries collection in 1822, but cannot now be found, although +there is a rumor that it is on the altar of a rural church near St. +Wolfgang’s Lake, in Upper Austria.</p> + +<p>In 1518 Dürer visited Augsburg, during the session of the Diet of the +Empire, and not only sold many of his engravings, but made a number of +new sketches and portraits. His most important work on this journey +was a portrait of the Emperor, who gave an order on the town of +Nuremberg to pay 200 guldens “to the Emperor’s and the Empire’s dear +and faithful Albert Dürer.” On this picture the master inscribed, +“This is the Emperor Maximilian, whom I, Albert Dürer, drew at +Augsburg, in his little room high up in the imperial residence, in the +year 1518, on the Monday after St. John the Baptist.” About the same +time the master painted the unpleasant picture of “The Suicide of +Lucretia,” now at Munich, showing an ill-formed nude woman of life +size, said to have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>been copied from Agnes Frey. The portrait of the +witty and learned Lazarus Spengler dates from the same year.</p> + +<p>When Maximilian died, the Rath of Nuremberg refused to continue the +pension which he had granted to Dürer, though the artist addressed its +members as “Provident, Honorable, Wise, Gracious, and Dear Lords,” and +enumerated his services to the dead Emperor. He also vainly demanded +the payment of the imperial order for 200 florins, “to be paid to him +as if to Maximilian himself, out of the town taxes due to the Emperor +on St. Martin’s Day,” though he offered to leave his house in pledge, +so that the town might lose nothing if the new Emperor refused to +acknowledge the validity of the claim.</p> + +<p>At the time of the death of Maximilian the great woodcut of “The +Triumphal Arch” was unfinished, and the blocks remained in the hands +of the engraver. Dürer and Rösch published a large round cut +containing twenty-one of the historical scenes, as a memorial of the +late sovereign, and this singular production speedily went through +four editions. A few trial-impressions of the whole Arch had been +struck off <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>before the Emperor’s death, two of which are now at +Copenhagen, one in the British Museum, and one at Stockholm. In 1559 +the first edition of the entire Arch was printed at Vienna, at the +request of the Archduke Ferdinand, and another edition was issued by +Bartsch in 1799.</p> + +<p>In 1519 Dürer published an excellent wood-engraving of the late +Emperor Maximilian, with inscriptions recording his titles and the +date of his death. It showed a pleasant face, full of strength and +character. Among the painted portraits of Maximilian which are +attributed to the master, the best is in the Vienna Belvedere; and +another was in the late Northwick Collection, in England. A beautiful +portrait in water-colors is in the library of the Erlangen University.</p> + +<p>In 1519 Dürer also prepared an exquisitely finished copper-plate +engraving of “St. Anthony,” showing the meditative hermit before a +background of a quaint mediæval city, very like Nuremberg, abounding +in irregular gable-roofs and tall castle-towers. Several admirable +copies of this work have been made.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;">Dürer’s Tour in the Netherlands.—His Journal.—Cologne.—Feasts at +Antwerp and Brussels.—Procession of Notre Dame.—The +<i>Confirmatia</i>.—Zealand Journey.—Ghent.—Martin Luther.</p></div> + +<p>Dürer’s famous tour to the Netherlands began in the summer of 1520, +and continued until late in 1521. His main object appears to have been +to secure from Charles V. a confirmation of the pension which the +Emperor Maximilian had granted him, since the Rath of Nuremberg had +refused to deliver any further sums until he could obtain such a +ratification. Possibly he also hoped to obtain the position of +court-painter, to which Titian was afterwards appointed. Several +biographers say that Dürer made the journey in order to get a respite +from his wife’s tirades; but this is unlikely, since he took her and +her maid Susanna with him. The Archduchess Margaret, daughter of the +late Emperor Maximilian and aunt of Charles V., was at Brussels, +acting <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>as Regent of the Netherlands; and Dürer made strong but +ineffectual attempts to secure her good graces.</p> + +<p>Dürer’s journal of his tour is a combination of cash account, +itinerary, memoranda, and notebook, and would fill about fifty of +these pages. It is usually barren of reflections, opinions, or +prolonged descriptions; and is but a terse and business-like record of +facts and expenses, rich only in its revelations of mediæval Flemish +hospitality and municipal customs, and certain personal habits of the +writer. The greatest impression seems to have been made upon the +traveller by the enormous wealth of the Low Countries, and the +adjective “costly” continually recurs. The new-found treasures of +America were then pouring a stream of gold into the Flemish cities, +and manufactures and commerce were in full prosperity. The devastating +storm of Alva’s Spanish infantry had not yet swept over the doomed but +heroic Netherlands; and her great cities basked in peace, prosperity, +and wealth.</p> + +<p>“On the Thursday after Whitsuntide, I, Albert Dürer, at my own cost +and responsibility, set out with my wife from Nuremberg for the +Netherlands.... <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>I went on to Bamberg, where I gave the Bishop a +picture of the Virgin, ‘The Life of the Virgin,’ an Apocalypse, and +other engravings of the value of a florin. He invited me to dinner, +and gave me an exemption from customs, and three letters of +recommendation.” He hired a carriage to take him to Frankfort for +eight florins of gold, and received a parting stirrup-cup from Meister +Benedict, and the painter Hans Wolfgang Katzheimer. He gives the names +of the forty-three villages through which he passed along the route by +Würzburg and Carlstadt to Frankfort, with his expenditures for food +and for gifts to servants; and tells how the Bishop’s letter freed him +from paying tolls. At Frankfort he was cheaply entertained by Jacob +Heller, for whom he had painted “The Coronation of the Virgin.” From +thence he descended by boat to Mayence, where he received many gifts +and attentions. In the river-passages hence to Cologne, he was forced +to haul in shore and arrange his tolls at Ehrenfels, Bacharach, Caub, +St. Goar, and Boppart. At Cologne he was entertained by his cousin +Nicholas Dürer, who had learned the goldsmith’s trade in the shop of +Albert’s father, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>and was now settled in business. The master made +presents to him and his wife. The Barefooted Monks gave Dürer a feast +at their monastery; and Jerome Fugger presented him with wine. The +journey was soon resumed; and the master passed through fourteen +villages, and at last reached Antwerp, where he was feasted by the +factor of the illustrious Fugger family. Jobst Planckfelt was Dürer’s +host while he remained in the city, and showed him the Burgomaster’s +Palace and other sights of Antwerp, besides introducing him to Quentin +Matsys and other eminent Flemish artists.</p> + +<p>“On St. Oswald’s Day, the painters invited me to their hall, with my +wife and maid; and every thing there was of silver and other costly +ornamentation, and extremely costly viands. There were also all their +wives there; and when I was conducted to the table all the people +stood up on each side, as if I had been a great lord. There were +amongst them also many persons of distinction, who all bowed low, and +in the most humble manner testified their pleasure at seeing me, and +they said they would do all in their power to give me pleasure. And, +as I sat at table, there came <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>in the messenger of the Rath of +Antwerp, who presented me with four tankards of wine in the name of +the Magistrates; and he said that they desired to honor me with this, +and that I should have their good-will.... And for a long time we were +very merry together until quite late in the night; then they +accompanied us home with torches in the most honorable manner, and +they begged us to accept their good-will, and said they would do +whatever I desired that might be of assistance to me. Then I thanked +them, and went to bed.”</p> + +<p>He next speaks of making portraits of his friend the Portuguese +consul, his host Planckfelt, and the musician Felix Hungersberg; and +keeps account of his sales of paintings and engravings, on the same +pages which record his junketings with various notable men. He dined +with one of the Imhoffs and with Meister Joachim Patenir, the +landscape-painter, with whom he had certain professional transactions. +He soon became intimately acquainted with the three Genoese brothers, +Tomasin, Vincent, and Gerhartus Florianus, with whom he dined many +times, and for whom he drew several portraits. He also met <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>the great +scholar and half-way reformer, Erasmus, who gave him several pleasing +presents.</p> + +<p>“Our Lady’s Church at Antwerp is so immensely big, that many masses +may be sung in it at one time without interfering with each other; and +it has altars and rich foundations, and the best musicians that it is +possible to have. The church has many devout services, and stone work, +and particularly a beautiful tower. And I have also been to the rich +Abbey of St. Michael, which has the costly stone seat in its choir. +And at Antwerp they spare no cost about such things, for there is +money enough there.”</p> + +<p>He made portraits of Nicholas Kratzer, then professor of astronomy at +Oxford University; Hans Plaffroth; and Tomasin’s daughter; and gave +several score of his engravings to the Portuguese consul and to his +compatriot Ruderigo, who had sent a large quantity of sweetmeats to +the artist, and a green parrot to his wife.</p> + +<p>Something of diplomatic tact is shown in Dürer’s making presents to +Meister Gillgen, the Emperor’s door-keeper, and to Meister Conrad, the +sculptor of the Archduchess Margaret. He seems to have been preparing +to seek an invitation to court.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p><p>In September Dürer and Tomasin journeyed to Mechlin, where they +invited Meister Conrad and one of his artist-friends to a supper. The +next day they passed through Vilvorde, and came to Brussels. Here the +master was introduced to a new and splendid society and a city rich in +works of art. He speaks of dining with “My Lord of Brussels,” the +Imperial Councillor Bannisius, and the ambassadors of Nuremberg; and +Bernard van Orley, formerly a pupil of Raphael and now court-painter +to the Regent Margaret, invited him to a feast at which he met the +Regent’s treasurer, the royal court-master, and the town-treasurer of +Brussels. He also visited the Margrave of Anspach and Baireuth, with a +letter of introduction from the Bishop of Bamberg; and drew portraits +of Meister Conrad, Bernard van Orley, and several others. The Regent +Margaret received him “with especial kindness,” and promised to use +her influence for his advancement at the imperial court. He presented +copies of the Passion to her and her treasurer, and many other +engravings to other eminent persons in the city.</p> + +<p>“And I have seen King Charles’s house at Brussels, with its fountains, +labyrinth, and park. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>It gave me the greatest pleasure; and a more +delightful thing, and more like a Paradise, I have never before +seen.... At Brussels there is a very big and costly Town-hall, built +of hewn stone, with a splendid transparent tower. I have seen in the +Golden Hall the four painted matters which the great Meister Rudier +[Roger van der Weyden] has done.... I have also been into the +Nassau-house, which is built in such a costly style and so beautifully +ornamented. And I saw the two beautiful large rooms and all the costly +things in the house everywhere, and also the great bed in which fifty +men might lie; and I have also seen the big stone which fell in a +thunderstorm in the field close to the Count of Nassau. This house is +very high, and there is a fine view from it, and it is much to be +admired; and I do not think in all Germany there is any thing like +it.... Also I have seen the thing which has been brought to the King +from the new Golden Land [Mexico], a sun of gold a fathom broad, and a +silver moon just as big. Likewise two rooms full of armor; likewise +all kinds of arms, harness, and wonderful missiles, very strange +clothing, bed-gear and all kinds of the most <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>wonderful things for +man’s use, that are as beautiful to behold as they are wonderful. +These things are all so costly, that they have been valued at 100,000 +gulden. And I have never in all the days of my life seen any thing +that has so much rejoiced my heart as these things. For I have seen +among them wonderfully artistic things, and I have wondered at the +subtle <i>Ingenia</i> of men in foreign lands.”</p> + +<p>While at Brussels Dürer was the guest of Conrad the sculptor, and +Ebner the Nuremberg ambassador. He returned at length to Antwerp, +where his Portuguese friends sent him several maiolica bowls and some +Calcutta feathers, and his host gave also certain Indian and Turkish +curiosities. The jovial dinners with Planckfelt and Tomasin were again +begun, and were supplemented by feasts with the Von Rogendorffs and +Fugger’s agent. The master gave away hundreds of his engravings here, +either to his friends or to influential courtiers; and all these +details he faithfully records. He seems to have been an indefatigable +investigator and collector of curiosities, imported trinkets, and +china. With childlike delight he narrates the brilliant spectacles +around him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p><p>“I have seen, on the Sunday after the Assumption of Our Blessed Lady, +the great procession from Our Lady’s Church at Antwerp, when the whole +town was assembled, artisans and people of rank, every one dressed in +the most costly manner according to its station. Every class and every +guild had its badge by which it might be recognized; large and costly +tapers were also borne by some of them. There were also long silver +trumpets of the old Frankish fashion. There were also many German +pipers and drummers, who piped and drummed their loudest. Also I saw +in the street, marching in a line in regular order, with certain +distances between, the goldsmiths, painters, stonemasons, +embroiderers, sculptors, joiners, carpenters, sailors, fishmongers, +... and all kinds of artisans who are useful in producing the +necessaries of life. In the same way there were the shopkeepers and +merchants and their clerks. After these came the marksmen with +firelocks, bows, and cross-bows, some on horseback and some on foot. +After that came the City Guards; and at last a mighty and beautiful +throng of different nations and religious orders, superbly costumed, +and each distinguished <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>from the other, very piously. I remarked in +this procession a troop of widows who lived by their labor. They all +had white linen cloths covering their heads, and reaching down to +their feet, very seemly to behold. Behind them I saw many brave +persons, and the canons of Our Lady’s Church, with all the clergy and +bursars, where twenty persons bore Our Lady with the Lord Jesus +ornamented in the most costly manner to the glory of the Lord God. In +this procession there were many very pleasant things, and it was very +richly arranged. There were brought along many wagons, with moving +ships, and other things. Then followed the Prophets, all in order; the +New Testament, showing the Salutation of the Angel, the three Holy +Kings on their camels, and other rare wonders very beautifully +arranged.... At the last came a great dragon led by St. Margaret and +her maidens, who were very pretty; also St. George, with his squire, a +very handsome Courlander. Also a great many boys and girls, dressed in +the most costly and ornamental manner, according to the fashion of +different countries, rode in this troop, and represented so many +saints. This procession from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>beginning to end was more than two hours +passing by our house; and there were so many things that I could never +write them all down even in a book, and so I leave it alone.”</p> + +<p>Raphael died during this year, and Dürer made strenuous efforts to +secure some of his drawings or other remains. He met Tommaso Vincidore +of Bologna, a pupil of the great master, and gave him an entire set of +his best engravings for an antique gold ring, and another set to be +sent to Rome in exchange for some of Raphael’s sketches. He also gave +a complete set of his engravings to the Regent Margaret, and made for +her two careful drawings on parchment. Vincidore painted his portrait, +to be sent to Rome; and it was engraved by Adrian Stock, showing his +glorious eyes and long flowing hair, together with a short dense beard +overshadowed by a massive moustache, curled back at the points.</p> + +<p>Later in the autumn Dürer journeyed to Aix-la-Chapelle, where he +attended the splendid ceremonies of the coronation of the Emperor +Charles V. At Aix he saw the famous columns brought from Rome by +Charlemagne, the arm of Kaiser Henry, the chemise and girdle of the +Virgin <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>Mary, and other relics. His wife was back at Antwerp; and so +the reckless artist chronicles his outlays for drinking, gaming, and +other reprehensible expenses. After being entertained for three weeks +at the Nuremberg embassy, Dürer went to Cologne, where he remained a +fortnight, distributing his engravings with generous hand, visiting +the churches and their pictures, and buying all manner of odd things. +Early in November, by the aid of the Nuremberg ambassadors, he +obtained from the Emperor his <i>Confirmatia</i>, “with great trouble and +labor.” This coveted document, which formed one of the main objects of +his journey to the North, confirmed him in the pension which +Maximilian had granted him, and made him painter to the Emperor.</p> + +<p>From Cologne he returned with all speed down the river to Antwerp, +being entertained at Bois-le-Duc, “a pretty town, which has an +extraordinarily beautiful church,” by the painter Arnold de Ber and +the goldsmiths, “who showed me very much honor.” On arriving at +Antwerp, he resumes his accounts of the sales and gifts of his +engravings, and the enumeration of his domestic expenses. Soon +afterward he heard of a monstrous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>whale being thrown up on the +Zealand coast, and posted off in December to see it, taking a vessel +from Bergen-op-Zoom, of whose well-built houses and great markets he +speaks. “We sailed before sunset by a village, and saw only the points +of the roofs projecting out of the water; and we sailed for the island +of Wohlfärtig [Walcheren], and for the little town of Sunge in another +adjacent island. There were seven islands; and Ernig, where I passed +the night, is the largest. From thence we went to Middleburg, where I +saw in the abbey the great picture that Johann de Abus [Mabuse] had +done. The drawing is not so good as the painting. After that we came +to Fahr, where ships from all lands unload: it is a fine town. But at +Armuyden a great danger befell me; for just as we were going to land, +and our ropes were thrown out, there came a large ship alongside of +us, and I was about to land, but there was such a press that I let +every one land before me, so that nobody but I, Georg Kotzler, two old +women, and the skipper with one small boy, were left in the ship. And +when I and the above-named persons were on board, and could not get on +shore, then the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>heavy cable broke, and a strong wind came on, which +drove our ship powerfully before it. Then we all cried loudly for +help, but no one ventured to give it; and the wind beat us out again +to sea.... Then there was great anxiety and fear; for the wind was +very great, and not more than six persons on board. But I spoke to the +skipper, and told him to take heart, and put his trust in God, and +consider what there was to be done. Then he said he thought, if we +could manage to hoist the little sail, he would try whether we could +not get on. So with great difficulty, and working all together, we got +it half way up, and sailed on again; and when those on the land saw +this, and how we were able to help ourselves, they came and gave us +assistance, so that we got safely to land. Middleburg is a good town, +and has a very beautiful Town-house with a costly tower. And there are +also many things there of old art. There is an exceedingly costly and +beautiful seat in the abbey, and a costly stone aisle, and a pretty +parish church. And in other respects also the town is very rich in +subjects for sketches. Zealand is pretty and marvellous to see, on +account of the water, which is higher than the land.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p><p>The tide had carried off the stranded whale; and so Dürer returned to +Antwerp, staying a few days at Bergen. Soon afterwards he gave Von +Rafensburg three books of fine engravings in return for five +snail-shells, nine medals, four arrows, two pieces of white coral, two +dried fish, and a scale of a large fish. Improvident collector of +curiosities! how did the matronly Agnes endure such tradings? Many +dinners with the Genoese Tomasin are then recorded, and fresh +collations with new friends, in the hearty and hospitable spirit of +the easy-living Netherlanders. He repaid the quaint presents of his +admirers with many copies of his engravings, and occasionally made +some money in the practice of his profession.</p> + +<p>“On Shrove Tuesday early the goldsmiths invited me and my wife to +dinner. There were many distinguished people assembled, and we had an +extremely costly meal, and they did me exceeding much honor; and in +the evening the senior magistrate of the town invited me, and gave me +a costly meal, and showed me much honor. And there came in many +strange masks.” He then records his exchanges of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>engravings for such +singular returns as satin, candied citron, ivory salt-cellars from +Calcutta, sea-shells, monk’s electuary, sweetmeats in profusion, +porcelains, an ivory pipe, coral, boxing-gloves, a shield, lace, +fishes’ fins, sandal-wood, &c. The Portuguese ambassador invited him +to a rich Carnival feast, where there were “many very costly masks;” +and the learned Petrus Ægidius entertained him and Erasmus of +Rotterdam together. He climbed up the cathedral tower, and “saw over +the whole town from it, which was very agreeable.” Many of the +curiosities which he had acquired were sent as presents to Pirkheimer, +the Imhoffs, the Holzschuhers, and other noble friends in Nuremberg. +Arion, the ex-Pensionary of Antwerp, gave him a feast, and presented +him with Patenir’s painting of “Lot and his Daughters.”</p> + +<p>Soon after Easter, Dürer made another pleasant tour in the +Netherlands, attended by the painter Jan Plos, passing by “the rich +Abbey of Pol,” and “the great long village of Kahlb,” to “the splendid +and beautiful town” of Bruges. Plos and the goldsmith Marx each gave +him costly feasts, and showed him the Emperor’s palace, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>the Archery +Court, and many paintings by Roger van der Weyden, Hubert and Jan van +Eyck, and Hugo van der Goes, together with an alabaster Madonna by +Michael Angelo. “We came at last to the Painters’ Chapel, where there +are many good things. After that they prepared a banquet for me. And +from thence I went with them to their guild, where many honorable +folk, goldsmiths, painters, and merchants, were assembled; and they +made me sup with them, and did me great honor. And the Rath gave me +twelve measures of wine; and the whole assembly, more than sixty +persons, accompanied me home with torches.</p> + +<p>“And when I arrived at Ghent, the chief of the painters met me, and he +brought with him all the principal painters of the town; and they +showed me great honor, and received me in very splendid style, and +they assured me of their good-will and service; and I supped that +evening with them. On Wednesday early they took me to St. John’s +Tower, from which I saw over all the great and wonderful town. After +that I saw Johann’s picture [Van Eyck’s ‘Adoration of the Spotless +Lamb’]. It is a very rich and grandly conceived <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>painting; and +particularly Eve, the Virgin Mary, and God the Father, are +excellent.... Ghent is a beautiful and wonderful town, and four great +waters flow through it. And I have besides seen many other very +strange things at Ghent, and the painters with their chief have never +left me; and I have eaten morning and night with them, and they have +paid for every thing, and have been very friendly with me.”</p> + +<p>The master soon returned to Antwerp, in distress. “In the third week +after Easter a hot fever attacked me, with great faintness, +discomfort, and headache. And when I was in Zealand, some time back, a +wonderful illness came upon me, which I had never heard of any one +having before; and this illness I have still.” This low fever never +quite left him, and was the cause of many doctor’s bills thereafter. +Soon afterward he made a portrait of the landscape-painter Joachim +Patenir; and “on the Sunday before Cross-week, Meister Joachim invited +me to his wedding, and they all showed me much respect; and I saw two +very pretty plays there, particularly the first, which was very pious +and clerical.”</p> + +<p>Dürer seems to have had strong Protestant <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>sympathies, though it is +claimed that he died in the faith of Rome. His journal in 1521 +contains the following significant sentences about Martin Luther: “He +was a man enlightened by the Holy Ghost, and a follower of the true +Christian faith.... He has suffered much for Christ’s truth, and +because he has rebuked the unchristian Papacy which strives against +the freedom of Christ with its heavy burdens of human laws; and for +this we are robbed of the price of our blood and sweat, that it may be +expended shamefully by idle, lascivious people, whilst thirsty and +sick men perish of hunger.... Lord Jesus Christ, call together again +the sheep of thy fold, of whom part are still to be found amongst the +Indians, Muscovites, Russians, and Greeks, who through the burdens and +avarice of the Papacy have been separated from us. Never were any +people so horribly burdened with ordinances as us poor people by the +Romish See; we who, redeemed by thy blood, ought to be free +Christians.</p> + +<p>“O God, is Luther dead? Who will henceforth explain to us so clearly +the holy Gospel? O all pious Christian men, bewail with me this +God-inspired man, and pray to God to send us another <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>enlightened +teacher! O Erasmus of Rotterdam, where dost thou remain? Behold how +the unjust tyranny of this world’s might and the powers of darkness +prevail! Hear, thou knight of Christ; ride forth in the name of the +Lord, defend the truth, attain the martyr’s crown; thou art already an +old manikin, and I have heard thee say that thou gavest thyself only +two years longer in which thou wilt still be fit for work. Employ +these well, then, in the cause of the Gospel and the true Christian +faith.”</p> + +<p>More junketings, gamings, collecting of outlandish things, visits to +religious and civic pageants, new sketches and paintings, doctor’s +bills and monk’s fees, minutely recorded. “Meister Gerhard, the +illuminator, has a daughter of eighteen years, called Susanna; and she +has illuminated a plate, a Saviour, for which I gave a florin. It is a +great wonder that a woman should do so well!... I have again and again +done sketches and many other things in the service of different +persons, and for the most part of my work I have received nothing at +all.”</p> + +<p>After Corpus Christi Day, Dürer sent off several bales of his +acquisitions to Nuremberg, by the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>wagoner Cunz Mez. He and his wife +then went to Mechlin; “and the painters and sculptors entertained me +at my inn, and showed me great honor; and I went to Popenreuther’s +house, the cannon-founder, and found many wonderful things there. I +have also seen the Lady Margaret [the Archduchess and Regent], and +carried the portrait of the Emperor, which I intended to present to +her; but she took such a displeasure therein, I brought it away with +me again. And on the Friday she showed me all her beautiful things, +and amongst them I saw forty small pictures in oil, pure and good: I +have never seen finer miniatures. And then I saw other good things of +Johann’s [Van Eyck] and Jacob Walch’s. I begged my Lady to give me +Meister Jacob’s little book, but she said she had promised it to her +painter.”</p> + +<p>Dürer seems to have been treated with scant courtesy by the +Archduchess, and soon returned to Antwerp. Here he was entertained by +the eminent Lucas van Leyden, for whom he made a portrait, and +received one of himself in return. The stately Nuremberger and the +diminutive artist of Leyden were much astonished at each <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>other’s +personal appearance, but had a warm mutual respect and esteem. Dürer +next struck up a warm friendship with certain of the Augustine monks, +and dined often at their cloister. In addition to the <i>bric-à-brac</i> +which he still continued to collect, he now began to buy precious +stones, in which he was badly swindled by a Frenchman, and dolefully +wrote, “I am a fool at a bargain.”</p> + +<p>He was now about to return home, and naturally found it necessary, +after having bought such a museum of oddities and curiosities, to +borrow enough money to take him to Nuremberg. His friend Alexander +Imhoff lent him 100 gold florins, receiving Dürer’s note in return. In +some bitterness of spirit he wrote: “In all my transactions in the +Netherlands, with people both of high and low degree, and in all my +doings, expenses, sales, and other trafficking, I have always had the +disadvantage; and particularly the Lady Margaret, for all I have given +her and done for her, has given me nothing in return.”</p> + +<p>On the eve of Dürer’s departure, the King of Denmark, Christian II., +came to Antwerp, and not only had the master draw his portrait, but +also invited him to a dinner. He then went to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>Brussels, on business +for his new royal patron, and was present at the pompous reception and +banquet with which the Emperor and the Archduchess Margaret received +the Danish King. Soon afterwards the King invited Dürer to the feast +which he gave to the Emperor and Archduchess; and then had his +portrait painted in oil-colors, paying thirty florins for it. After a +sojourn of eight days in Brussels, the master and his wife went south +to Cologne, spending four long days on the road; and soon afterwards +prolonged their journey to Nuremberg.</p> + +<p>The municipality of Antwerp had offered him a house and a liberal +pension, to remain in that city; but he declined these, being content +with his prospects and his noble friends in Franconia.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;">Nuremberg’s Reformation.—The Little +Masters.—Glass-Painting.—Architecture.—Letter to the City +Council.—“Art of Mensuration.”—Portraits.—Melanchthon.</p></div> + +<p>What a commotion must Dürer’s return have caused in Nuremberg, with +his commission as court-painter, and his bales and crates of rarities +from America and India and all Europe! The presents which he had +brought for so many of his friends must have given the liveliest +delight, and afforded amusement for months to the Sodalitas Literaria +and the Rath-Elders.</p> + +<p>In the mean time the purifying storm of the Reformation was sweeping +over Germany, and the people were in times of great doubt and +perplexity. Nuremberg was the first of the free cities of the Empire +to pronounce herself Protestant, though the change was effected with +so much order and moderation that no iconoclastic fury was allowed to +dilapidate its churches and convents. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>Pirkheimer and Spengler were +excommunicated by the Pope, though their calm conservatism had curbed +the fanatical fury of the puritans, and saved the Catholic +art-treasures of the Franconian capital.</p> + +<p>It is a significant fact that Dürer, during the last six years of his +life, made no more Madonnas, and but one Holy Family. The era of +Mariolatry had passed, so far as Nuremberg was concerned. Yet, during +the year of his return from the Netherlands, he made two engravings of +St. Christopher bearing the Holy Child safely above the floods and +through the storms, as if to indicate that Christianity would be +carried through all its disasters by an unfailing strength.</p> + +<p>During the remaining six years of his life Dürer’s art-works were +limited to a few portraits and engravings, and the great pictures of +the Four Apostles. Much of his time was devoted to the publication of +the fruits of his long experience, in several literary treatises, most +of which are now lost. His broken health would not allow of continuous +work, as the inroads of insidious disease slowly wasted his strength +and ate away his vitality.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p><p>The Little Masters were a group of artists who were formed in the +studio or under the influence of Dürer, shining as a bright +constellation of genius in the twilight of German art. Among these +were the Bavarian Altdorfer, who combined in his brilliant paintings +and engravings both fantasy and romanticism; the Westphalian +Aldegrever, a laborious painter and a prolific engraver; Barthel +Beham, who afterwards studied with and counterfeited the works of Marc +Antonio in Italy; Hans Sebald Beham, who illustrated lewd fables and +prayer books with equal skill and relish, and was finally driven from +Nuremberg; Jacob Binck of Cologne, a neat and accurate draughtsman, +who removed to Rome, and engraved Raphael’s works under the +supervision of Marc Antonio; George Pensz, who also studied under the +great Italian engraver, and executed 126 fine prints, besides several +paintings. Other assistants and pupils of Dürer, of whom little but +their names are now remembered, were Hans Brosamer of Fulda, and Hans +Springinklee. Hans von Culmbach was a careful follower, who surpassed +his master in love of nature and her warm and harmonious colors. The +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>Tucher altar-piece in St. Sebald’s Church was his master-picture. +Contemporary with the Nuremberg painter, Matthew Grunewald was doing +excellent work at Aschaffenburg, in northern Franconia. Among the +German artists of his time, he was surpassed only by Dürer and +Holbein.</p> + +<p>The Diet of the Empire was held at Nuremberg in 1522, and the +Rath-haus was repainted and decorated for its sessions. Dürer was paid +100 florins for his share in this work, although it is not known what +it was. The best of the paintings were executed by his pupil, George +Pensz, and it is probable that the master furnished some of the +designs.</p> + +<p>Although our artist held a pension from the Emperor as his +court-painter, his services seem to have never been called into +requisition. Charles spent but little time at Nuremberg, and while yet +in his youth had no care for seeing himself portrayed on canvas. It +was after the master’s death that the Emperor first met Titian, and +retained him as court-painter.</p> + +<p>In 1522 Dürer published at his own cost the first edition of the +Triumphal Car of Kaiser <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>Maximilian, a woodcut whose labored and +ponderous allegorical idea was conceived by Pirkheimer, designed in +detail by Dürer, and engraved by Rösch on eight blocks, forming a +picture 7½ feet long by 1½ feet high. The Emperor is shown +seated in a chariot, surrounded by female figures representing the +abstract virtues, while the leaders of the twelve horses, and even the +wheels and reins, have magniloquent Latin names. Maximilian was +greatly interested in this work, but died before its completion. The +first edition was accompanied by explanatory German text, and the +second by Latin descriptions.</p> + +<p>The large woodcut of Ulrich Varnbühler, whom Dürer calls his “single +friend,” is one of the master’s best works, and was printed over with +three blocks, to produce a chiaroscuro. A little later, he made two +copper-plates of the Cardinal Archbishop Albert of Magdeburg and +Mayence.</p> + +<p>In 1523, while under the influence of the art-schools of the Lower +Rhine, the master painted the pictures of Sts. Joachim and Joseph and +St. Simeon and Bishop Lazarus, small figures on a gold ground.</p> + +<p>Dürer’s Family Relation records that, “My <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>dear mother-in-law took ill +on Sunday, Aug. 18, 1521; and on Sept. 29, at nine of the night, she +died piously. And in 1523, on the Feast of the Presentation, early in +the morning, died my father-in-law, Hans Frey. He had been ill for six +years, and had his share of troubles in his time.” They were buried in +St. John’s Cemetery, in the same lot where the remains of their +illustrious son-in-law were afterwards laid.</p> + +<p>It is said that Dürer largely occupied himself with glass-painting, +during the earlier part of his career; and he probably designed much +for the workers in stained glass then in Upper Germany and the Low +Countries. Lacroix says that he produced twenty windows for the Temple +Church at Paris; and Holt attributes to him the church-windows at +Fairford, near Cirencester.</p> + +<p>As an architect Albert executed but few works, and only a slight +record remains to our day. He made two plans for the Archduchess +Margaret, and another for the house of her physician. Heideloff has +proved that the gallery of the Gessert house at Nuremberg was built by +Dürer, in a strange combination of geometric and Renaissance forms.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p><p>Pirkheimer’s portrait was engraved in 1524, showing a gross and heavy +face, obese to the last degree, and verifying in its physiognomy the +probability that the playful innuendoes in Dürer’s Venetian letters +were well grounded. It is not easy to see how such a spirit, learned +in all the sciences of the age, and in close communion with Erasmus, +Melanchthon, and Ulrich von Hutten, could have worn such a drooping +mask of flesh. In the same year, Dürer published an engraved portrait +of Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, the supporter of Luther and +the political leader of the Reformation. The head is admirably drawn +and full of character, with firmness plainly indicated by strongly +compressed lips.</p> + +<p>The following letter to the Council of Nuremberg was written in the +year 1524:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“Provident, Honorable, Wise, and Most Favorable Lords,—By my +works and with the help of God, I have acquired 1,000 florins +of the Rhine, and I would now willingly lay them by for my +support. Although I know that it is not the custom with your +Wisdoms to pay high interest, and that you have refused to +give one florin in twenty; yet I am moved by my necessity, by +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>the particularly favorable regard which your Wisdoms have +ever shown towards me, and also by the following causes, to +beg this thing of your Honors. Your Wisdoms know that I have +always been obedient, willing, and diligent in all things +done for your Wisdoms, and for the common State, and for +other persons of the Rath, and that the State has always had +my help, art, and work, whenever they were needed, and that +without payment rather than for money; for I can write with +truth, that, during the thirty years that I have had a house +in this town, I have not had 500 guldens’ worth of work from +it, and what I have had has been poor and mean, and I have +not gained the fifth part for it that it was worth; but all +that I have earned, which God knows has only been by hard +toil, has been from princes, lords, and other foreign +persons. Also I have expended all my earnings from foreigners +in this town. Also your Honors doubtless know that, on +account of the many works I had done for him, the late +Emperor Maximilian, of praiseworthy memory, out of his own +imperial liberality granted me an exemption from the rates +and taxes of this town, which, however, I voluntarily <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>gave +up, when I was spoken to about it by the Elders of the Rath, +in order to show honor to my Lords, and to maintain their +favor and uphold their customs and justice.</p> + +<p>“Nineteen years ago the Doge of Venice wrote to me, offering +me 200 ducats a year if I would live in that city. More +lately the Rath of Antwerp, while I remained in the Low +Countries, also made me an offer, 300 florins of Philippe a +year, and a fair mansion to live in. In both places all that +I did for the Government would have been paid over and above +the pension. All of which, out of my love for my honorable +and wise Lords, for this town, and for my Fatherland, I +refused, and chose rather to live simply, near your Wisdoms, +than to be rich and great in any other place. It is therefore +my dutiful request to your Lordships, that you will take all +these things into your favorable consideration, and accept +these thousand florins (which I could easily lay out with +other worthy people both here and elsewhere, but which I +would rather know were in the hands of your Wisdoms), and +grant me a yearly interest upon them of fifty florins, so +that I and my wife, who are daily growing old, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>weak, and +incapable, may have a moderate provision against want. And I +will ever do my utmost to deserve your noble Wisdoms’ favor +and approbation, as heretofore.”</p></div> + +<p>This touching letter shows the poverty of Dürer’s savings, and his sad +feeling that he had lived as a prophet without honor in his own +country. It produced the desired effect, and brought him five per cent +on his little capital, though after his death the Council hastened to +reduce it to four per cent.</p> + +<p>Dürer’s wide study and remarkable versatility, rivalling that of +Leonardo da Vinci, found further expression in literary work. +Camerarius states that he wrote a hundred and fifty different +treatises, showing a marked proficiency in several of the sciences. +His first work was entitled “Instruction in the Art of Mensuration,” +&c., and was published in 1525 for the use of young painters. It is +composed of four books, treating of the practical use of geometrical +instruments, and the drawing of volutes, Roman letters, and winding +stairs; and is illustrated by numerous woodcuts. The fourth book +elucidates the idea of perspective, and contains pictures of an +instrument <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>devised by the author, “which will be found particularly +useful to persons who are not sure of drawing correctly.” This was not +the only invention of Dürer’s; for there still exists a small model of +a gun-carriage in wood and iron, made by him, and exhibiting certain +improvements which he had designed and advocated. “The Art of +Mensuration” was a successful book, and passed through one Latin and +three German editions.</p> + +<p>The finest of Dürer’s works in portraiture was executed in 1526, and +represents the grand old Jerome Holzschuher, one of the chief rulers +of the city, with all the strength and keenness of his heroic nature +lighting up the canvas. Enormous sums have been offered for this work; +but it is still faithfully preserved in Nuremberg, and retains its +original rich and vivid coloring. Another fine portrait, “like an +antique bust,” now in the Vienna Belvedere, shows Johann Kleeberger, +the generous and charitable man who was known abroad as “the good +German.” Still another portrait of this year was that of the +Burgomaster Jacob Müffel, a well-modelled and carefully executed +likeness of one of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>master’s best friends. Two very famous +engravings of this date portray Erasmus of Rotterdam and Philip +Melanchthon. Erasmus is represented as a venerable scholar, sitting at +a desk, with a pen in his hand and a soft cap on his head; and the +engraving is remarkable for its admirable execution and strong +character. Still, the old philosopher was not pleased with it, and +sent to Sir Thomas More his portrait by Holbein, which, he said, “is +much more like me than the one by the famous Albert Dürer.” When +Erasmus first saw the picture he said, “Oh! if I still resemble that +Erasmus, I may look out for getting married,” as if it gave him too +young an appearance.</p> + +<p>In 1526 the wise and noble-hearted Melanchthon came to Nuremberg to +establish a Protestant Latin school, and formed a close intimacy with +the master, whose tender and dreamy spirit was so like his own. During +their constant intercourse, the artist became strengthened and +comforted in the mild and pure doctrines of the true reformation, and +was quietly yet strongly influenced to abandon even the forms of +Catholicism which still remained. Dürer published a fine engraving of +this friend of his last <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>years on earth, showing delicately-chiselled +features, with large and tender eyes and a lofty forehead.</p> + +<p>Melanchthon wrote that in one of his frequent conversations with +Dürer, the artist explained the great change which his methods had +undergone, saying, “In his youth he was fond of a florid style and +great combination of colors, and that in looking at his own work he +was always delighted to find this diversity of coloring in any of his +pictures; but afterwards in his mature years he began to look more +entirely to nature, and tried to see her in her simplest form. Then he +found that this simplicity was the true perfection of art; and, not +attaining this, he did not care for his works as formerly, but often +sighed when he looked at his pictures and thought of his incapacity.”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p style="margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;">“The Four Apostles.”—Dürer’s Later Literary Works.—Four Books of +Proportion.—Last Sickness and Death.—Agnes Dürer.—Dürer described +by a Friend.</p></div> + +<p>Schlegel says that “Albert Dürer may be called the Shakespeare of +Painting;” and it is doubtless true that he filled out the narrow +capabilities of early German art with a full measure of deep and +earnest thought and powerful originality. The equal homage which was +offered to him at Venice and Antwerp, the two art-antipodes, shows how +highly he was regarded in his own day. His earlier works were executed +in the crude and angular methods of Wohlgemuth and his contemporaries; +and most of the pictures now attributed to him, often incorrectly, are +of this character. But in his later works he swung clear of these +trammelling archaisms, and produced brilliant and memorable +compositions.</p> + +<p>“The Four Apostles,” now in the Munich <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>Pinakothek, were Dürer’s last +and noblest works, and fairly justify Pirkheimer’s assurance, that if +he had lived longer the master would have done “many more wonderful, +strange, and artistic things.” They are full of grand thought and +clear insight, free from exaggeration or conventionalism, perfect in +execution and harmonious simplicity, and so distinct in individuality +that it has been generally believed that the Four Temperaments are +here impersonated. On one panel are Sts. John and Peter, in life-size, +the former deeply meditating, with the Scriptures in his hand, and the +latter bending forward and earnestly reading the Holy Book. The other +panel shows the stately St. Paul, robed in white, standing before the +ardent and impassioned St. Mark. Kugler calls these panels “the first +complete work of art produced by Protestantism;” and the truth and +simplicity of the paintings prefigured the return of a pure and +incorrupt faith.</p> + +<p>Late in 1526, Dürer sent these pictures to the Rath of Nuremberg, with +the following letter: “Provident, Honorable, Wise, Dear Lords,—I have +been for some time past minded to present your Wisdoms with something +of my unworthy <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>painting as a remembrance; but I have been obliged to +give this up on account of the defects of my poor work, for I knew +that I should not have been well able to maintain the same before your +Wisdoms. During this past time, however, I have painted a picture, and +bestowed more diligence upon it than upon any other painting; +therefore I esteem no one worthier than your Wisdoms to keep it as a +remembrance; on which account I present the same to you herewith, +begging you with humble diligence to accept my little present +graciously and favorably, and to be and remain my favorable and dear +Lords, as I have always hitherto found you. This, with the utmost +humility, I will sedulously endeavor to merit from your Wisdoms.”</p> + +<p>The Rath eagerly accepted this noble gift, and hung the two panels in +the Rath-haus, sending also a handsome present of money to Dürer and +his wife. A century afterwards Maximilian of Bavaria saw and coveted +the pictures, and used bribery and threats alike to secure them. In +1627 he accomplished his purpose; and the Rath, fearful of his wrath +and dreading his power, sent the panels to Munich.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p><p>The woodcut portrait of Dürer, dated 1527, shows the worn face of a +man of fifty-six years, whose life has been stormy and sometimes +unhappy. It is much less beautiful than the earlier pictures, for his +long flowing hair and beard have both been cut short, perhaps on +account of sickness, or in deference to the new puritan ideas. The +face is delicate and melancholy, and seems to rest under the shadow of +approaching death, which is to be met with a calm and simple faith.</p> + +<p>His second book, entitled “Some Instruction in the Fortification of +Cities, Castles, and Towns,” appeared in 1527, and was dedicated to +Ferdinand I., and adorned with several woodcuts. In this the artist +showed the same familiarity with the principles of defensive works as +his great contemporaries Leonardo da Vinci and Michael Angelo had +done. Much attention is paid to the proper sheltering of heavy +artillery from hostile shot; and the plans of the towers and bastions +about Nuremberg, which were built after Dürer’s death, were suggested +in this work. A large contemporary woodcut by the master shows the +siege of a city, with cannon playing from the bastions, and the +garrison making a sortie against the enemy.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p><p>The celebrated “Four Books of Human Proportion” was Dürer’s greatest +literary work, and was completed about this time, having been begun in +1523. Its preparation was suggested by Pirkheimer, to whom it was +dedicated, and who published it after the author’s death, with a long +Latin elegy on him. Great labor was bestowed on this work, and many of +the original sketches and notes are still preserved. The first and +second books show the correct proportions of the human body and its +members, according to scale, dividing the body into seven parts, each +of which has the same measurement as the head, and then considering it +in eighths. The proportions of children are also treated of; and the +dogma is formulated, that the woman should be one-eighteenth shorter +than the man. The third book is devoted to transposing or changing +these proportions, and contains examples of distorted and +unsymmetrical figures; and the fourth book treats of foreshortening, +and shows the human body in motion. In his preface he says: “Let no +one think that I am presumptuous enough to imagine that I have written +a wonderful book, or seek to raise myself above others. This be far +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>from me! for I know well that but small and mediocre understanding +and art can be found in the following work.”</p> + +<p>The high appreciation in which this book was held appears from the +fact that it passed through several German editions, besides three +Latin, two Italian, two French, Portuguese, Dutch, and English +editions. Most of the original MS. is now in the British Museum.</p> + +<p>Among Dürer’s other works were treatises on Civic Architecture, Music, +the Art of Fencing, Landscape-Painting, Colors, Painting, and the +Proportions of the Horse.</p> + +<p>But the year 1527 was nearly barren of new art-works; for the master’s +hand was losing its power, and his busy brain had grown weary. His +constitution was slowly yielding before the fatal advances of a +wasting disease, possibly the low fever which he had contracted in +Zealand, or it may have been an affection of the lungs. In the latter +days he made a memorandum: “Regarding the belongings I have amassed by +my own handiwork, I have not had a great chance to become rich, and +have had plenty of losses; having lent without being repaid, and my +work-people <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>have not reckoned with me; also my agent at Rome died, +after using up my property. Half of this loss was thirteen years ago, +and I have blamed myself for losses contracted at Venice. Still we +have good house-furnishing, clothing, costly things as earthenware +[maiolica], professional fittings-up, bed-furnishings, chests, and +cabinets; and my stock of colors is worth 100 guldens.”</p> + +<p>The last design of the master was a drawing on gray paper, showing +Christ on the Cross. When this was all completed except the face of +the Divine sufferer, the artist was summoned by Death, and ascended to +behold in glory the features which he had so often portrayed under the +thorns.</p> + +<p>A violent attack of his chronic disease prostrated him so far that he +was unable to rally; and after a brief illness he passed gently away, +on the 6th of April, 1528. It was the anniversary of the day on which +Raphael died, eight years before. His friends were startled and +grief-stricken at his sudden death, which came so unexpectedly that +even Pirkheimer was absent from the city. It was long supposed that he +died of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>the plague, on the evidence of a portrait-drawing of himself, +showing him pointing to a discolored plague-spot on his side, and +inscribed, “Where my fingers point, there I suffer.” It was said that +this sketch was for the information of his doctor, who dared not visit +the pestilence-stricken sick-chamber. But this hypothesis is no longer +considered tenable.</p> + +<p>The remains of the master were buried in the lot of his father-in-law, +Hans Frey, at the Cemetery of St. John, beyond the walls; and his +monument bore Pirkheimer’s simple epitaph: “<span class="smcap">Me. Al. Du. Quicquid +Alberti Dureri Mortale Fuit, Sub Hoc Conditur Tumulo. Emigravit VIII +Idus Aprilis, MDXXVIII. A.D.</span>”</p> + +<p>On Easter Sunday, 1828, the third centenary of his death, a great +procession of artists and scholars from all parts of Germany moved in +solemn state from Nuremberg to the grave of Dürer, where they sang +hymns.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p><div class="centerbox6 bbox3"><p>In the valley of the Pegnitz, where across broad meadowlands<br /> +Rise the blue Franconian mountains, Nuremberg the +ancient stands.<br /> +<br /> +Quaint old town of toil and traffic, quaint old town of art +and song,<br /> +Memories haunt thy pointed gables, like the rooks that +round them throng.<br /> +<br /> +Memories of the Middle Ages, when the emperors rough +and bold<br /> +Had their dwelling in thy castle, time-defying, centuries +old;<br /> +<br /> +And thy brave and thrifty burghers boasted, in their +uncouth rhyme,<br /> +That their great imperial city stretched its hand through +every clime.<br /> +<br /> +In the courtyard of the castle, bound with many an iron +band,<br /> +Stands the mighty linden planted by Queen Cunigunde’s +hand;<br /> +<br /> +On the square the oriel window, where in old heroic days<br /> +Sat the poet Melchior singing Kaiser Maximilian’s praise.<br /> +<br /> +Everywhere I see around me rise the wondrous world of +Art,<br /> +Fountains wrought with richest sculpture standing in the +common mart;<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>And above cathedral doorways, saints and bishops carved in +stone,<br /> +By a former age commissioned as apostles to our own.<br /> +<br /> +In the church of sainted Sebald sleeps enshrined his holy +dust,<br /> +And in bronze the Twelve Apostles guard from age to age +their trust:<br /> +<br /> +In the church of sainted Lawrence stands a pix of sculpture +rare,<br /> +Like the foamy sheaf of fountains, rising through the painted +air.<br /> +<br /> +Here, when Art was still religion, with a simple, reverent +heart,<br /> +Lived and labored Albrecht Dürer, the Evangelist of Art;<br /> +<br /> +Hence in silence and in sorrow, toiling still with busy hand,<br /> +Like an emigrant he wandered, seeking for the Better Land.<br /> +<br /> +<i>Emigravit</i> is the inscription on the tombstone where he +lies:<br /> +Dead he is not, but departed, for the artist never dies.</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Longfellow.</span></p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p><p>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.”</p> + +<p><a name="Link1" id="Link1"></a>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>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!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p><p>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.</p> + +<p>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” (<i>Lo Spasimo</i>) 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.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p><div class="blockquot"><p>“It is very surprising in regard to that man, that in a +rude and barbarous age he was the first of the Germans who +not only arrived at an exact imitation of nature, but has +likewise left no second; being so absolute a master of it in +all its parts,—in etching, engraving, statuary, +architecture, optics, symmetry, and the rest,—that he had +no equal except Michael Angelo Buonarotti, his contemporary +and rival; and he left behind him such works as were too +much for the life of one man.”—<span class="smcap">John Andreas.</span></p></div> + +<p>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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>any thing more graceful. Such, moreover, +was the charm of his language, that listeners were always sorry when +he had finished speaking.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p> +<h4>A LIST OF</h4> + +<h3>ALBERT DÜRER’S CHIEF PAINTINGS</h3> + +<p class="center">NOW IN EXISTENCE, WITH THE DATES OF THEIR EXECUTION,<br /> +AND THEIR PRESENT LOCATIONS.</p> + +<p><sup>*</sup><sub>*</sub><sup>*</sup><i>The interrogation-mark is annexed to the titles +of certain paintings which two or more critics regard as of doubtful +authenticity.</i></p> + +<p class="center">GERMANY.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Nuremberg.</span>—<i>Germanic Museum,</i>—Emperor Maximilian; Burgomaster +Holzschuher, 1526. <i>St. Maurice Gallery,</i>—Pietà; Ecce Homo. +<i>Rath-Haus</i>,—Emperor Sigismund(?); Charlemagne(?).</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Munich Pinakothek.</span>—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.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dresden Museum.</span>—Christ Bearing the Cross; the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>Crucifixion; a Hare; +Lucas van Leyden; Madonna and Saints (?).</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cologne.</span>—<i>Museum,</i>—Drummer and Piper; Madonna (?). <i>Church of Sta. +Maria im Capitol,</i>—Death of the Virgin.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Frankfort.</span>—<i>Municipal Gallery,</i>—Two portraits. <i>Städel +Institute,</i>—Catherine Fürleger; Albert Dürer the Elder.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cassel.</span>—<i>Friedrich Museum,</i>—The Passion. <i>Bellevue,</i>—Erasmus of +Rotterdam.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Pommersfelden.</span>—Jacob Müffel.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Lustschena</span> (Baron Speck).—A Young Lady.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Aschaffenburg.</span>—Albert Dürer.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Augsburg.</span>—Two Masques. Several others in the Castle of Stolzenfels.</p> + +<p class="center">AUSTRIA.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Vienna.</span>—<i>Belvedere,</i>—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. <i>The Albertina,</i>—Emperor Maximilian, Green Passion, +and 160 drawings. <i>Czernin Palace,</i>—Portrait. The old Ambraser, +Lichtenstein, and Von Lamberg collections included four portraits and +two religious pictures. <i>St. Wolfgang’s Church,</i> Upper Austria,—Death +of the Virgin.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Pesth.</span>—Christ on the Cross.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Prague.</span>—<i>Strahow Abbey,</i>—The Feast of Rose Garlands.</p> + +<p class="center">NORTHERN EUROPE.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">St. Petersburg.</span>—<i>Hermitage Palace,</i>—Christ Led to Calvary; Christ +Bearing the Cross; the Elector of Saxony.</p> + +<p><i>Hague Museum.</i>—Two portraits.</p> + +<p><i>Belœil</i> (Prince de <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>Ligne),—Two +pictures.</p> + +<p><i>Basle Museum</i> (Switzerland).—Two pictures.</p> + +<p><i>Coire Cathedral,</i>—Christ Bearing the Cross.</p> + +<p class="center">ITALY.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Florence.</span>—<i>Uffizi Gallery,</i>—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 (?). +<i>Pitti Palace,</i>—Adam and Eve (replica).</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Rome.</span>—<i>Barberini Palace,</i>—Christ among the Doctors, 1506. <i>Borghese +Palace,</i>—Louis VI. of Bavaria; Pirkheimer, 1505; and five pictures of +dubious authenticity. <i>Corsini Palace,</i>—A Hare; Cardinal Albert of +Brandenburg. <i>Doria Palace,</i>—St. Eustace (?); Ecce Homo (?). +<i>Sciarra-Colonna Palace,</i>—Death of the Virgin.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Milan.</span>—<i>Casa Trivulzi,</i>—Ecce Homo, 1514. <i>Ambrosiana,</i>—Coronation +of the Virgin, 1510. <i>Bergamo Academy,</i>—Christ Bearing the Cross. +<i>Brescia Gallery,</i>—Drawings.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Venice.</span>—<i>Manfrini Palace,</i>—Adoration of the Shepherds; Holy Family.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Naples.</span>—<i>Santangelo,</i>—Garland-Bearer, 1508. <i>Museum,</i>—Nativity, +1512. <i>Villafranca Palace,</i>—Christ on the Cross.</p> + +<p class="center">SPAIN.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Madrid.</span>—<i>Museum,</i>—Albert Dürer, 1498; Dürer’s Father; Adam and Eve. +<i>Marquis of Salamanca,</i>—Altar-piece, a Passion scene.</p> + +<p class="center">FRANCE.</p> + +<p><i>Besançon Museum,</i>—Christ on the Cross. <i>Lyons,</i>—Madonna and Child +Giving Roses to Maximilian (?).</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p><p class="center">GREAT BRITAIN.</p> + +<p><i>National Gallery,</i>—A Senator, 1514. <i>Stafford House,</i> Death of +the Virgin. <i>Hampton-Court Palace,</i>—Young Man, 1506; St. Jerome (?). +<i>Buckingham Palace,</i>—Virgin and Child. <i>Rev. J. F. +Russell,</i>—Crucifixion; Christ’s Farewell to Mary (?). <i>Thirlestaine +House,</i>—Maximilian. <i>Kensington Palace,</i>—Young Man. <i>New Battle +House,</i>—Madonna and Angels. <i>Belvoir Castle,</i>—Portrait. <i>Sion +House,</i>—Dürer’s Father. <i>Mr. Wynn Ellis, London,</i>—Catherine +Fürleger; Virgin and Child. <i>FitzWilliam Museum, Cambridge,</i>—Annunciation (?). +<i>Windsor Castle,</i>—Pirkheimer. <i>Bath House,</i>—Man in Armor. <i>Howard +Castle,</i>—Vulcan; Adam and Eve; Abraham and Isaac.</p> + +<p><sup>*</sup><sub>*</sub><sup>*</sup><i>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.</i></p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> +<h4>A LIST OF</h4> + +<h3>DÜRER’S WOOD ENGRAVINGS.</h3> + +<p><i>Bible Subjects.</i>—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.</p> + +<p><i>Saints.</i>—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 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>of Ten Thousand Christians; the +Beheading of St. Catherine; St. Mary Magdalen.</p> + +<p><i>Portraits.</i>—The Emperor Maximilian, 1519; the Emperor; Ulrich +Varnbühler, 1522; Albert Dürer, 1527.</p> + +<p><i>Heraldic Subjects.</i>—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.</p> + +<p><i>Miscellaneous Subjects.</i>—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.</p> + +<p><i>The Great Passion</i> (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.</p> + +<p><i>The Little Passion</i> (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; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>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.</p> + +<p><i>The Life of the Virgin</i> (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.</p> + +<p><i>The Apocalypse of St. John</i> (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; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<h3>ENGRAVINGS ON COPPER.</h3> + +<p><i>Bible-Subjects.</i>—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, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>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.</p> + +<p><i>Saints.</i>—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.</p> + +<p><i>Miscellaneous.</i>—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.</p> + +<p><i>Portraits.</i>—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.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p><p><i>Etchings.</i>—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.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><h2>INDEX.</h2> + +<p class="center">——◆——</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="INDEX"> + +<tr><td style="width: 50%; vertical-align: top;"> +<ul class="none"> +<li><i>Adam and Eve,</i> <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> +<li><i>Adoration of the Kings,</i> <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</li> +<li><i>Adoration of the Trinity,</i> <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</li> +<li>Aix-la-Chapelle, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.</li> +<li>Aldegrever, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li> +<li>Altdorfer, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li> +<li>Antwerp, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.</li> +<li><span style="margin-left: 1em;">— Cathedral, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</span></li> +<li>Architectural Works, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.</li> +<li>Art of Mensuration, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.</li> +<li>Augsburg, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.</li></ul> + +<ul class="none"> +<li>Bamberg, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.</li> +<li>Basle, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</li> +<li>Baumgärtner, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</li> +<li>Behaim, Martin, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.</li> +<li>Beham, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li> +<li>Beheim, Hans, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li> +<li>Bellini, Giovanni, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</li> +<li>Bergen-op-Zoom, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li> +<li>Bernard van Orley, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li> +<li>Binck, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li> +<li><i>Birth of St. John,</i> <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li> +<li>Bois-le-Duc, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.</li> +<li>Bruges, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</li> +<li>Brussels, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li> +<li>Bullman, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.</li></ul> + +<ul class="none"> +<li>Calvary, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</li> +<li>Camerarius, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</li> +<li>Carvings, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li> +<li>Celtes, Conrad, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li> +<li>Chelidonius, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li> +<li>Coat-of-Arms, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> +<li>Colmar, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</li> +<li>Cologne, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.</li> +<li>Colvin, Sidney, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> +<li>Confirmatia, The, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.</li> +<li><i>Coronation of the Virgin,</i> <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</li></ul> + +<ul class="none"> +<li>Danger at Sea, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</li> +<li>Death of Parents, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</li> +<li><i>Death of the Virgin,</i> <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.</li> +<li>Delayed Pensions, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>.</li> +<li>Denmark’s King, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.</li> +<li>Drawings, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</li> +<li>Dürer, Albert, the Elder, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</li> +<li><span style="margin-left: 1em;">— Agnes, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</span></li> +<li><span style="margin-left: 1em;">— Andreas, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</span></li> +<li><span style="margin-left: 1em;">— Anthony, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</span></li> +<li><span style="margin-left: 1em;">— Barbara, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</span></li> +<li><span style="margin-left: 1em;">— Hans, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.</span></li> +<li><span style="margin-left: 1em;">— Nicholas, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.</span></li> +<li>Dürer’s House, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li> +<li><span style="margin-left: 1em;">— Marriage, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</span></li> +<li><span style="margin-left: 1em;">— Poetry, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.</span></li> +<li><span style="margin-left: 1em;">— Portraits, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</span></li></ul> + +<ul class="none"> +<li>Early Drawings, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> +<li>Engravings, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.</li> +<li>Erasmus, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>.</li> +<li>Etchings, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</li> +<li>Eytas, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li></ul> + +<ul class="none"> +<li>Fever, The, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</li> +<li>Flemish Feasts, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li> +<li>Flemish Wealth, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.</li> +<li>Fortifications, Treatise on, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</li> +<li><i>Four Apostles, The,</i> <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</li> +<li>Francia, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>.</li> +<li>Frey Family, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.</li></ul> + +<ul class="none"> +<li>Ghent, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li> +<li>Glass-Painting, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.</li> +<li><i>Great Column, The,</i> <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.</li> +<li><i>Great Passion, The,</i> <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.</li> +<li><i>Green Passion, The,</i> <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</li> +<li>Grunewald, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</li></ul> + +<ul class="none"> +<li>Haller Family, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> +<li>Heller, Jacob, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.</li> +<li><i>Holzschuher,</i> <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</li> +<li>Human Proportions, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</li></ul></td> + +<td style="width: 50%; vertical-align: top;"> +<ul class="none"> +<li>Imhoff Collection, The, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li> +<li>Inventions, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</li></ul> + +<ul class="none"> +<li>Karl, Eucharius, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li> +<li><i>Knight, Death, etc.,</i> <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li> +<li>Koberger, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li> +<li>Kornelisz, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.</li> +<li>Kraft, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li></ul> + +<ul class="none"> +<li>Landäuer, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.</li> +<li>Letters to the Rath, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</li> +<li><i>Life of the Virgin,</i> <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li> +<li>Lindenast, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li> +<li>Literary Work, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.</li> +<li><i>Little Crucifixion, The,</i> <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</li> +<li>Little Masters, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li> +<li><i>Little Passion, The,</i> <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</li></ul> + +<ul class="none"> +<li>Mantegna, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li> +<li>Marc Antonio, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li> +<li>Margaret, Archduchess, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</li> +<li>Martin Luther, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.</li> +<li><i>Martyrdom, The,</i> <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</li> +<li>Maximilian, Emperor, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.</li> +<li>Mechlin, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</li> +<li>Melanchthon, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>.</li> +<li><i>Melencolia, The,</i> <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</li> +<li>Middleburg, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li></ul> + +<ul class="none"> +<li>Netherland Journey, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.</li> +<li>Nuremberg, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.</li></ul> + +<ul class="none"> +<li><i>Passion, The Great,</i> <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.</li> +<li><span style="margin-left: 1em;">— <i>The Green,</i> <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</span></li> +<li><span style="margin-left: 1em;">— <i>The Little,</i> <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</span></li> +<li><span style="margin-left: 1em;">— <i>Song,</i> <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</span></li> +<li><span style="margin-left: 1em;">— <i>in Copper,</i> <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</span></li> +<li>Patenir, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</li> +<li>Pensz, George, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</li> +<li>Perugino, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</li> +<li>Piratical Engravers, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li> +<li>Pirkheimer, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.</li> +<li>Prayer-Book, Max’s, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.</li> +<li>Procession, The, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>.</li></ul> + +<ul class="none"> +<li>Raphael, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.</li> +<li>Regiomontanus, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li> +<li><i>Rose-Garlands, Feast of,</i> <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li> +<li>Ruskin Quoted, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li></ul> + +<ul class="none"> +<li>Sachs, Hans, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</li> +<li><i>St. Anthony,</i> <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.</li> +<li><i>St. Eustachius,</i> <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li> +<li><i>St. Jerome,</i> <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li> +<li>Schongauer, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.</li> +<li>Silver-Work, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li> +<li>Sketch-Books, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li> +<li>Spengler, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</li> +<li>Stein, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li> +<li>Stoss, Veit, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li> +<li>Strasbourg, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</li></ul> + +<ul class="none"> +<li>Teacher, The (Poem), <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</li> +<li>Tomasin, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li> +<li><i>Triumphal Arch,</i> <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>.</li> +<li><i>Triumphal Car,</i> <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</li></ul> + +<ul class="none"> +<li>Van Leyden, Lucas, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</li> +<li>Vasari Quoted, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</li> +<li>Venetian Journey, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li> +<li>Venice, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.</li> +<li>Vincidore, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.</li> +<li>Vischer, Peter, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li> +<li>Von Culmbach, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li></ul> + +<ul class="none"> +<li>Walch, Jacob, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</li> +<li>Wander-jahre, The, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</li> +<li>Water-Marks, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> +<li>Wohlgemuth, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.</li> +<li>Woodcuts, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li></ul> + +<ul class="none"> +<li>Zealand, Journey to, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</li></ul> +</td></tr></table></div> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Transcriber's Note:</span></h3> + +<p>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.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Durer, by M. 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F. Sweetser + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Durer + Artist-Biographies + +Author: M. F. Sweetser + +Release Date: June 13, 2010 [EBook #32787] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DURER *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander, Juliet Sutherland and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + _ARTIST-BIOGRAPHIES._ + + DUeRER. + + BOSTON: + HOUGHTON, OSGOOD, AND COMPANY. + + The Riverside Press, Cambridge. + + 1879. + + + + + COPYRIGHT. + BY JAMES R. OSGOOD & CO. + 1877. + + FRANKLIN PRESS: + RAND, AVERY, AND COMPANY, + BOSTON. + + + + +ARTIST-BIOGRAPHIES. + +PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT. + + +The growth of a popular interest in art and its history has been very +rapid during the last decade of American life, and is still in +progress. This interest is especially directed towards the lives of +artists themselves; and a general demand exists for a uniform series +of biographies of those most eminent, which shall possess the +qualities of reliability, compactness, and cheapness. + +To answer this demand the present series has been projected. The +publishers have intrusted its preparation to Mr. M. F. Sweetser, whose +qualities of thoroughness in research and fidelity in statement have +been proved in other fields of authorship. It is believed that by the +omission of much critical and discursive matter commonly found in art +biographies, an account of an artist's life may be presented, which is +at once truthful and attractive, within the limits prescribed for +these volumes. + +The series will be published at the rate of one or two volumes each +month, at 50 cents each volume, and will contain the lives of the most +famous artists of mediaeval and modern times. It will include the lives +of many of the following:-- + + Raphael, Claude, Van Dyck, + Michael Angelo, Poussin, Gainsborough, + Leonardo da Vinci, Delacroix, Reynolds, + Titian, Delaroche, Wilkie, + Tintoretto, Greuze, Lawrence, + Paul Veronese, Duerer, Landseer, + Guido, Rubens, Turner, + Murillo, Rembrandt, West, + Velasquez, Holbein, Copley, + Salvator Rosa, Teniers, Allston. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +This little volume presents an account of the life of one of the +noblest and most versatile artists of Germany, with a passing glance +at the activities of Northern Europe at the era of the Reformation. +The weird and wonderful paintings of Duerer are herein concisely +described, as well as the most famous and characteristic of his +engravings and carvings; and his quaint literary works are enumerated. +It has also been thought advisable to devote considerable space to +details about Nuremberg, the scene of the artist's greatest labors; +and to reproduce numerous extracts from his fascinating Venetian +letters and Lowland journals. + +The modern theory as to Duerer's wife and his home has been accepted +in this work, after a long and careful examination of the arguments +on both sides. It is pleasant thus to be able to aid in the +rehabilitation of the much-slandered Agnes, and to have an oppressive +cloud of sorrow removed from the memory of the great painter. + +The chief authorities used in the preparation of this new memoir are +the recent works of Dr. Thausing and Mr. W. B. Scott, with the series +of articles now current in "The Portfolio," written by Professor +Colvin. Mrs. Heaton's biography has also been studied with care; and +other details have been gathered from modern works of travel and +art-criticism, as well as from "The Art Journal," "La Gazette des +Beaux Arts," and other periodicals of a similar character. + + M. F. SWEETSER. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER I. + + 1471-1494. PAGE + + The Activities of Nuremberg.--The Duerer Family.--Early Years of + Albert.--His Studies with Wohlgemuth.--The _Wander-Jahre_ 7 + + + CHAPTER II. + + 1494-1505. + + Duerer marries Agnes Frey.--Her Character.--Early Engravings. + --Portraits.--"The Apocalypse."--Death of Duerer's Father. + --Drawings 28 + + + CHAPTER III. + + 1505-1509. + + The Journey to Venice.--Bellini's Friendship.--Letters to + Pirkheimer.--"The Feast of Rose Garlands."--Bologna.--"Adam and + Eve."--"The Coronation of the Virgin" 47 + + + CHAPTER IV. + + 1509-1514. + + Duerer's House.--His Poetry.--Sculptures.--The Great and Little + Passions.--Life of the Virgin.--Plagiarists.--Works for the Emperor + Maximilian 63 + + + CHAPTER V. + + 1514-1520. + + St. Jerome.--The Melencolia.--Death of Duerer's Mother.--Raphael. + --Etchings.--Maximilian's Arch.--Visit to Augsburg 81 + + + CHAPTER VI. + + 1520-1522. + + Duerer's Tour in the Netherlands.--His Journal.--Cologne.--Feasts + at Antwerp and Brussels.--Procession of Notre Dame.--The + Confirmatia.--Zealand Journey.--Ghent.--Martin Luther 94 + + + CHAPTER VII. + + 1522-1526. + + Nuremberg's Reformation.--The Little Masters.--Glass-Painting. + --Architecture.--Letter to the City Council.--"Art of Mensuration." + --Portraits.--Melanchthon 118 + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + 1526-1528. + + "The Four Apostles."--Duerer's Later Literary Works.--Four Books of + Proportion.--Last Sickness and Death.--Agnes Duerer.--Duerer described + by a Friend 131 + + + + +ALBERT DUeRER. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +The Activities of Nuremberg.--The Duerer Family.--Early Years of +Albert.--His Studies with Wohlgemuth.--The _Wander-Jahre._ + + +The free imperial city of Nuremberg, in the heart of Franconia, was +one of the chief centres of the active life of the Middle Ages, and +shared with Augsburg the great trans-continental traffic between +Venice and the Levant and Northern Europe. Its municipal liberties +were jealously guarded by venerable guilds and by eminent magistrates +drawn from the families of the merchant-princes, forming a government +somewhat similar to the Venetian Council. The profits of a commercial +prosperity second only to that of the Italian ports had greatly +enriched the thrifty burghers, aided by the busy manufacturing +establishments which made the city "the Birmingham of the Middle +Ages." Public and private munificence exerted itself in the erection +and adornment of new and splendid buildings; and the preparation of +works of art and utility was stimulated on all sides. It was the era +of the discovery of America, the revival of classic learning, and the +growth of free thought in matters pertaining to religion. So far had +the inventions of the artisans contributed to the comfort of the +people, that Pope Pius II. said that "A Nuremberg citizen is better +lodged than the King of Scots;" and so widely were they exported to +foreign realms, that the proud proverb arose that + + "Nuremberg's hand + Goes through every land." + +Nuremberg still stands, a vast mediaeval relic, in the midst of +the whirl and activity of modern Germany, rich and thriving, but +almost unchanged in its antique beauty. The narrow streets in which +Duerer walked are flanked, as then, by quaint gable-roofed houses, +timber-fronted, with mullioned windows and arching portals. In the +faded and venerable palaces of the fifteenth century live the +descendants of the old patrician families, cherishing the memories and +archives of the past; and the stately Gothic churches are still rich +in religious architecture, and in angular old Byzantine pictures and +delicate German carvings. On the hill the castle rears its ponderous +ramparts, which have stood for immemorial ages; and the high towers +along the city walls have not yet bowed their brave crests to the +spirit of the century of boulevards and railroads. + +With two essentials of civilization, paper and printing-presses, +Nuremberg supplied herself at an early day. The first paper-mill in +Germany was established here in 1390; and its workmen were obliged to +take an oath never to make paper for themselves, nor to reveal the +process of manufacture. They went out on a strike when the mill was +enlarged, but the authorities imprisoned them until they became docile +once more. Koberger's printing-house contained twenty-four presses, +and employed over a hundred men, printing not only Bibles and +breviaries, but also chronicles, homilies, poems, and scientific +works. As the Aldine Press attracted many authors and scholars to +Venice, so Koberger's teeming press led several German literati to +settle at Nuremberg. For the four first years of Duerer's life, the +wonderful mathematician and astronomer Regiomontanus dwelt here, and +had no less than twenty-one books printed by Koberger. His numerous +inventions and instruments awakened the deepest interest in the +Nuremberg craftsmen, and stimulated a fruitful spirit of inquiry for +many years. + +The clockmakers of Nuremberg were famous for their ingenious +productions. Watches were invented here in the year 1500, and were +long known as "Nuremberg eggs." The modern composition of brass was +formed by Erasmus Ebner; wire-drawing machinery also was a Nuremberg +device; the air-gun was invented by Hobsinger; the clarionet, by +Denner; and the church-organs made here were the best in Germany. +There were also many expert metal-workers and braziers; and fifty +master-goldsmiths dwelt in the town, making elegant and highly +artistic works, images, seals, and medals, which were famous +throughout Europe. The most exquisite flowers and insects, and other +delicate objects, were reproduced in filagree silver; and the first +maiolica works in Northern Europe were also founded here. + +Isolated, like the ducal cities of Italy, from the desolating wars of +the great powers of Europe, and like them also growing rapidly in +wealth and cultivation, Nuremberg afforded a secure refuge for Art and +its children. In Duerer's day the great churches of St. Sebald, St. +Lawrence, and Our Lady were finished; Peter Vischer executed the +exquisite and unrivalled bronze Shrine of St. Sebald; and Adam Kraft +completed the fairy-like Sacrament-house, sixty feet high, and +"delicate as a tree covered with hoar-frost." Intimate with these two +renowned artificers was Lindenast, "the red smith," who worked +skilfully in beaten copper; and their studies were conducted in +company with Vischer's five sons, who, with their wives and children, +all dwelt happily at their father's house. Vischer lived till a year +after Duerer's death, but there is no intimation that the two artists +ever met. Another eminent craftsman was the unruly Veit Stoss, the +marvellous wood-carver, many of whose works remain to this day; and +there was also Hans Beheim, the sculptor, "an honorable, pious, and +God-fearing man;" and Bullman, who "was very learned in astronomy, +and was the first to set the Theoria Planetarum in motion by +clockwork;" and he who made the great alarm-bell, which was inscribed, +"I am called the mass and the fire bell: Hans Glockengeiser cast me: I +sound to God's service and honor." What shall we say also of Hartmann, +Duerer's pupil, who invented the measuring-rod; Schoner, the maker of +terrestrial globes; Donner, who improved screw machinery; and all the +skilful gun-makers, joiners, carpet-workers, and silk-embroiderers? +There was also the burgher Martin Behaim, the inventor of the +terrestrial globe, who anticipated Columbus by sailing Eastward across +the Pacific Ocean, passing through the Straits of Magellan and +discovering Brazil, as early as 1485. + +In Germany, as in Italy, the studio of the artist, full of pure and +lofty ideals, had hardly yet evolved itself from the workshop of the +picture-manufacturer. Nuremberg's chief artists at this time were +Michael Wohlgemuth, Duerer's master; Lucas Kornelisz, also called +Ludwig Krug, who, though a most skilful engraver, was sometimes forced +to adopt the profession of a cook in order to support himself; and +Matthias Zagel, who was expert in both painting and engraving. Still +another was the Venetian Jacopo de' Barbari, or Jacob Walch, "the +master of the Caduceus," a dexterous engraver and designer, whom Duerer +alludes to in his Venetian and Netherland writings. The art of +engraving had been invented early in the fifteenth century, and was +developing rapidly and richly toward perfection. The day of versatile +artists had arrived, when men combined the fine and industrial arts in +one life, and devoted themselves to making masterpieces in each +department. The northern nations, unaided by classic models and +traditions, were developing a new and indigenous aesthetic life, slow +of growth, but bound to succeed in the long run. + +The literary society of Duerer's epoch at Nuremberg was grouped in the +_Sodalitas Literaria Rhenana_, under the learned Conrad Celtes, who +published a book of Latin comedies, pure in Latinity and lax in +morals, which he mischievously attributed to the Abbess Roswitha. +Pirkheimer and the monk Chelidonius also belonged to this sodality. +Other contemporary literati of the city were Cochlaeus, Luther's +satirical opponent; the Hebraist Osiander; Venatorius, who united the +discordant professions of poetry and mathematics; the Provost +Pfinzing, for whose poem of _Tewrdannkh_, Duerer's pupil Schaeuffelein +made 118 illustrations; Baumgaertner, Melanchthon's friend; Veit +Dietrich, the reformer; and Joachim Camerarius, the Latinist. But the +most illustrious of Nuremberg's authors at that time was the +cobbler-poet, Hans Sachs, a radical in politics and religion, who +scourged the priests and the capitalists of his day in songs and +satires which were sung and recited by the workmen of all Germany. He +himself tells us that he wrote 4,200 master-songs, 208 comedies and +tragedies, 73 devotional and love songs, and 1,007 fables, tales, and +miscellaneous poems; and others say that his songs helped the +Reformation as much as Luther's preaching. + +Thus the activities of mechanics, art, and literature pressed forward +with equal fervor in the quaint old Franconian city, while Albert +Duerer's life was passing on. "Abroad and far off still mightier things +were doing; Copernicus was writing in his observatory, Vasco di Gama +was on the Southern Seas." + +"I, Albrecht Duerer the younger, have sought out from among my father's +papers these particulars of him, where he came from, and how he lived +and died holily. God rest his soul! Amen." In this manner the pious +artist begins an interesting family history, in which it is stated +that the Duerers were originally from the romantic little Hungarian +hamlet of Eytas, where they were engaged in herding cattle and horses. +Anthony Duerer removed to the neighboring town of Jula, where he +learned the goldsmith's art, which he taught to his son Albrecht, or +Albert, while his other sons were devoted to mechanical employments +and the priesthood. Albert was not content to stay in sequestered +Jula, and, wandering over Germany and the Low Countries, at last came +to Nuremberg, where he settled in 1455, in the service of the +goldsmith Hieronymus Haller. This worthy Haller and his wife Kunigund, +the daughter of Oellinger of Weissenberg, at that time had an infant +daughter; and as she grew up Albert endeared himself to her to such +purpose that, in 1467, when Barbara had become "a fair and handy +maiden of fifteen," he married her, being forty years old himself. +During the next twenty-four years she bore him eighteen children, +seven daughters and eleven sons, of whose births, names, and +godparents the father made careful descriptions. Three only, Albert, +Andreas, and Hans, arrived at years of maturity. It may well be +believed that the poor master-goldsmith was forced to work hard and +struggle incessantly to support such a great family; and his portrait +shows that the hand-to-mouth existence of so many years had told +heavily and left its imprint on his weary and careworn face. Yet he +had certain sources of peace and gentleness in his life, and never +sank into moroseness or selfishness. Let us quote the tender and +reverent words of his son: "My father's life was passed in great +struggles and in continuous hard work. With my dear mother bearing so +many children, he never could become rich, as he had nothing but what +his hands brought him. He had thus many troubles, trials, and adverse +circumstances. But yet from every one who knew him he received praise, +because he led an honorable Christian life, and was patient, giving +all men consideration, and thanking God. He indulged himself in few +pleasures, spoke little, shunned society, and was in truth a +God-fearing man. My dear father took great pains with his children, +bringing them up to the honor of God. He made us know what was +agreeable to others as well as to our Maker, so that we might become +good neighbors; and every day he talked to us of these things, the +love of God and the conduct of life." + +Albert Duerer was the third child of Albert the Elder and Barbara +Hallerin, and was born on the morning of the 21st of May, 1471. The +house in which the Duerers then lived was a part of the great pile of +buildings owned and in part occupied by the wealthy Pirkheimer family, +and was called the _Pirkheimer Hinterhaus_. It fronted on the Winkler +Strasse of Nuremberg, and was an ambitious home for a craftsman like +Albert. The presence of Antonius Koberger, the famous book-printer, as +godfather to the new-born child, shows also that the Duerers occupied +an honorable position in the city. + +The Pirkheimers were then prominent among the patrician families of +Southern Germany, renowned for antiquity, enormously wealthy through +successful commerce, and honored by important offices in the State. +The infant Willibald Pirkheimer was of about the same age as the young +Albert Duerer; and the two became close companions in all their +childish sports, despite the difference in the rank of their families. +When the goldsmith's family moved to another house, at the foot of the +castle-hill, five years later, the warm intimacy between the children +continued unchanged. + +The instruction of Albert in the rudiments of learning was begun at an +early age, probably in the parochial school of St. Sebald, and was +conducted after the singular manner of the schools of that day, when +printed books were too costly to be intrusted to children. He lived +comfortably in his father's house, and daily received the wise +admonitions and moral teachings of the elder Albert. His friendship +for Willibald enabled him to learn certain elements of the higher +studies into which the young patrician was led by his tutors; and his +visits to the Pirkheimer mansion opened views of higher culture and +more refined modes of life. + +Albert was enamoured with art from his earliest years, and spent many +of his leisure hours in making sketches and rude drawings, which he +gave to his schoolmates and friends. The Imhoff Collection had a +drawing of three heads, done in his eleventh year; the Posonyi +Collection claimed to possess a Madonna of his fifteenth year; and the +British Museum has a chalk-drawing of a woman holding a bird in her +hand, whose first owner wrote on it, "This was drawn for me by Albert +Duerer before he became a painter." The most interesting of these early +works is in the Albertina at Vienna, and bears the inscription: "This +I have drawn from myself from the looking-glass, in the year 1484, +when I was still a child.--ALBERT DUeRER." It shows a handsome and +pensive boy-face, oval in shape, with large and tender eyes, filled +with solemnity and vague melancholy; long hair cut straight across the +forehead, and falling over the shoulders; and full and pouting lips. +It is faulty in design, but shows a considerable knowledge of drawing, +and a strong faculty for portraiture. The certain sadness of +expression tells that the schoolboy had already become acquainted with +grief, probably from the straitened circumstances of his family, and +the melancholy deaths of so many brothers and sisters. The great +mystery of sorrow was full early thrown across the path of the solemn +artist. This portrait was always retained by Duerer as a memorial of +his childhood. + +He says of his father, "For me, I think, he had a particular +affection; and, as he saw me diligent in learning, he sent me to +school. When I had learned to write and read, he took me home again, +with the intention of teaching me the goldsmith's work. In this I +began to do tolerably well." He was taken into the goldsmith's +workshop in his thirteenth year, and remained there two years, +receiving instruction which was not without value in his future life, +in showing him the elements of the arts of modelling and design. The +accuracy and delicacy of his later plastic works show how well he +apprehended these ideas, and how far he acquired sureness of +expression. The elder Albert was a skilful master-workman, highly +esteemed in his profession, and had received several important +commissions. It is said that the young apprentice executed under his +care a beautiful piece of silver-work representing the Seven Agonies +of Christ. + +"But my love was towards painting, much more than towards the +goldsmith's craft. When at last I told my father of my inclination, he +was not well pleased, thinking of the time I had been under him as +lost if I turned painter. But he left me to have my will; and in the +year 1486, on St. Andrew's Day, he settled me apprentice with Michael +Wohlgemuth, to serve him for three years. In that time God gave me +diligence to learn well, in spite of the pains I had to suffer from +the other young men." Thus Duerer describes his change in life, and the +embarkation on his true vocation, as well as the reluctance of the +elder Albert to allow his noble and beloved boy to pass out from his +desolated household into other scenes, and away from his +companionship. + +Wohlgemuth was one of the early religious painters who stood at the +transition-point between the school of Cologne and that of the Van +Eycks, or between the old pietistic traditions of Byzantine art +and the new ideas of the art of the Northern Reformation. The +conventionalisms of the Rhenish and Franconian paintings were being +exchanged for a fresher originality and a truer realism; and the +pictures of this time curiously blended the old and the new. +Wohlgemuth seems to have considered art as a money-getting trade +rather than a high vocation, and his workroom was more a shop than a +studio. He turned out countless Madonnas and other religious subjects +for churches and chance purchasers, and also painted chests and carved +and colored images of the saints, many of which were executed by his +apprentices. A few of his works, however, were done with great care +and delicacy, and show a worthy degree of sweetness and simplicity. +Evidently the young pupil gained little besides a technical knowledge +of painting from this master,--the mechanical processes, the modes of +mixing and applying colors, the chemistry of pigments, and a certain +facility in using them. It was well that the influences about him were +not powerful enough to warp his pure and original genius into servile +imitations of decadent methods. His hands were taught dexterity; and +his mind was left to pursue its own lofty course, and use them as its +skilful allies in the new conquests of art. + +Wood-engraving was also carried on in Wohlgemuth's studio, and it is +probable that Duerer here learned the rudiments of this branch of art, +which he afterwards carried to so high a perfection. Some writers +maintain that his earliest works in this line were done for the famous +"Nuremberg Chronicle," which was published in 1493 by Wohlgemuth and +Pleydenwurf. + +The three years which were spent in Wohlgemuth's studio were probably +devoted to apprentice-work on compositions designed by the master, who +was then about fifty years old, and at the summit of his fame. But few +of Duerer's drawings now existing date from this epoch, one of which +represents a group of horsemen, and another the three Swiss leaders, +Fuerst, Melchthal, and Staufacher. The beautiful portrait of Duerer's +father, which is now at Florence, was executed by the young artist in +1490, probably to carry with him as a souvenir of home. Muendler says, +"For beauty and delicacy of modelling, this portrait has scarcely been +surpassed afterwards by the master, perhaps not equalled." + +It was claimed by certain old biographers that the eminent Martin +Schongauer of Colmar was Duerer's first master; but this is now +contested, although it is evident that his pictures had a powerful +effect on the youth. Schongauer was the greatest artist and engraver +that Germany had as yet produced, and exerted a profound influence on +the art of the Rhineland. He renewed the fantastic conceits and +grotesque vagaries which the Papal artists of Cologne had suppressed +as heathenish, and prepared the way for, or perhaps even suggested, +the weird elements of Duerer's conceptions. At the same time he passed +back of his Netherland art-education, and studied a mystic benignity +and dreamy spirituality suggestive of the Umbrian painters, with whose +chief, the great Perugino, Martin was acquainted. Herein Duerer's works +were in strong contrast with Schongauer's, and showed the new spirit +that was stirring in the world. + +Next to Schongauer, the great Italian artist Mantegna exercised the +strongest influence upon Duerer, who studied his bold and austere +engravings with earnest admiration, showing his traits in many +subsequent works. Probably he met the famous Mantuan painter during +the _Wander-jahre_, in Italy; and at the close of his Venetian journey +he was about to pay a visit of homage to him, when he heard of his +death. + +During his three years of study we have seen that the delicate and +sensitive youth suffered much from the reckless rudeness and jeering +insults of his companions, rough hand-workers who doubtless failed to +understand the poignancy of the torments which they inflicted on the +sad-eyed son of genius. But his home was near at hand, and the tender +care of his parents, always beloved. How often he must have wandered +through the familiar streets of Nuremberg, with his dreamy artist-face +and flowing hair, and studied the Gothic palaces, the fountains +adorned with statuary, and the rich treasures of art in the great +churches! Beyond the tall-towered town, danger lurked on every road; +but inside the gray walls was peace and safety, and no free lances nor +marauding men-at-arms could check the aspiring flight of the youth's +bright imagination. + +"And when the three years were out, my father sent me away. I remained +abroad four years, when he recalled me; and, as I had left just after +Easter in 1490, I returned home in 1494 just after Whitsuntide." Thus +Albert describes the close of his _Lehr-jahre_, or labor-years, and +the entrance upon his _Wander-jahre_, or travel-years. According to a +German custom, still prevalent in a modified degree, the youth was +obliged to travel for a long period, and study and practise his trade +or profession in other cities, before settling for life as a +master-workman. Unfortunately all that Duerer records as to these +eventful four years is given in the sentences above; and we can only +theorize as to the places which he visited, and his studies of the +older art-treasures of Europe. Some authors believe that a part of the +_Wander-jahre_ was spent in Italy, and Dr. Thausing, Duerer's latest +and best biographer, clearly proves this theory by a close study of +his notes and sketches. Others claim with equal positiveness, and less +capability of proof, that they were devoted to the Low Countries. It +is certain that he abode at Colmar in 1492, where he was honorably +received by Gaspar, Paul, and Louis, the three brothers of Martin +Schongauer. The great Martin had died some years before; but many of +his best paintings were preserved at Colmar, and were carefully +studied by Duerer. At a later day he wandered through the Rhineland to +Basle, and spent his last year at Strasbourg. His portraits of his +master and mistress in the latter city were dated in 1494, and +pertained to the Imhoff Collection. + +His portrait painted by himself in 1493 was procured at Rome by the +Hofrath Beireis, and described by Goethe. It shows a bright and +vigorous face, full of youthful earnestness and joy, rich, harmonious, +and finely executed, though thinly colored. He is attired in a +blue-gray cloak with yellow strings, an embroidered shirt whose +sleeves are bound with peach-colored ribbons, and a purple cap; and +holds a piece of the blue flower called _Manns-treue_, or Man's-faith. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +Duerer marries Agnes Frey.--Her Character.--Early Engravings. +--Portraits.--"The Apocalypse."--Death of Duerer's Father.--Drawings. + + +"And when my _Wander-jahre_ was over, Hans Frey treated with my +father, and gave me his daughter, by name the _Jungfrau_ Agnes, with a +dowry of 200 guldens. Our wedding was held on the Monday before St. +Margaret's Day (in July), in the year 1494." This dry statement of the +most important event of the artist's life illustrates the ancient +German custom of betrothal, where the bond of wedlock was considered +as a matter-of-fact copartnership, with inalienable rights and duties, +devoid of sentiment or romance. Since the relatives of the contracting +parties were closely affected by such transactions, they usually +managed the negotiations themselves; and the young people, thus thrown +by their parents at each other's heads, were expected to, and usually +did, accept the situation with submissiveness and prudent obedience. +In this case it appears that the first overtures came from the family +of the lady; and perhaps the order for Albert to return from his +wanderings was issued for this reason. Hans Frey was a burgher with +large possessions in Nuremberg and the adjacent country; and his +daughter was a very beautiful maiden. Her future husband does not +appear to have seen her until the betrothal was made. + +Most of Duerer's biographers have dwelt at great length on the malign +influence which Agnes exercised upon his life, representing her as a +jealous virago, imbittering the existence of the noble artist. But Dr. +Thausing, in his new and exhaustive history of Duerer's life, +vindicates the lady from this evil charge; and his position is +carefully reviewed and sustained by Eugene Muentz. He points out the +fact that the long story of Agnes's uncongeniality rests solely on +Pirkheimer's letter, and then shows that that ponderous burgher had +reasons for personal hostility to her. The unbroken silence which +Duerer preserves as to home-troubles, throughout his numerous letters +and journals, is held as proof against the charges; and none of his +intimate friends and contemporaries (save Pirkheimer) allude to his +domestic trials, though they wrote so much about him. The accusation +of avarice on her part is combated by several facts, among which is +the cardinal one of her self-sacrificing generosity to the Duerer +family after her husband's death, and the remarkable record of her +transferring to the endowment of the Protestant University of +Wittenberg the thousand florins which Albert had placed in the hands +of the Rath for her support. Pirkheimer's acrimonious letter (see p. +142) gives her credit at least for virtue and piety; and perhaps we +may regard her aversion to the doughty writer as a point in her favor. + +It is a singular and unexplained fact, that although Duerer was +accustomed to sketch every one about him, yet no portrait of his wife +is certainly known to exist, though several of his sketches are so +called, without any foundation or proof. What adds to the strangeness +of this omission is the fact that all accounts represent Agnes Duerer +as a very handsome woman. + +Probably the newly married couple dwelt at the house of the elder +Duerer during the first years of their union. In 1494 Albert was +admitted to the guild of painters, submitting a pen-drawing of +Orpheus and the Bacchantes as his test of ability; and at about the +same time he drew the "Bacchanal" and "The Battle of the Tritons," +which are now at Vienna. Herein he showed the contemporary classical +tendency of art, which he so soon outgrew. About this same time he +designed a frontispiece for the Latin poem which Dr. Ulsen had written +about the pestilence which was devastating Nuremberg, showing a +ghastly and repulsive man covered with plague-boils. The portrait of +Duerer's father, in oil-colors, which is now at Frankfort, was also +executed during this year. + +Duerer's first copper-plate engraving dates from 1497, and represents +four naked women, under a globe bearing the initials of "_O Gott +Hilf_," or "O God, help," while human bones strew the floor, and a +flaming devil appears in the background. During the next three years +the master made twenty copper-plate engravings. The composition of +"St. Jerome's Penance" shows the noble old ascetic kneeling alone in +a rocky wilderness, beating his naked breast with a stone, and gazing +at a crucifix, while the symbolical lion lies beside him. "The Penance +of St. John Chrysostom" depicts the long-bearded saint expiating +his guilt in seducing and slaying the princess by crawling about +on all-fours like a beast. She is seen at the mouth of a rocky +cave, nursing her child. "The Prodigal Son" is another tender and +exquisitely finished copper-plate engraving, in which the yearning and +prayerful Prodigal, bearing the face of Duerer, is kneeling on bare +knees by the trough at which a drove of swine are feeding. In the +background is a group of substantial German farm-buildings, with +unconcerned domestic animals and fowls. "The Rape of Amymone" shows a +gloomy Triton carrying off a very ugly woman from the midst of her +bathing Danaide sisters. "The Dream" portrays an obese German soundly +sleeping by a great stove, with a foolish-faced naked Venus and a +winged Cupid standing by his side, and a little demon blowing in his +ear. "The Love Offer" is made by an ugly old man to a pretty maiden, +whose waist is encircled by his arm, while her hand is greedily +outstretched to receive the money which he offers. Another early +engraving on copper shows a wild and naked man holding an unspeakably +ugly woman, who is endeavoring to tear herself from his arms. Still +others delineate Justice sitting on a lion, "The Little Fortune" +standing naked on a globe, and the monstrous hog of Franconia. + +It was chiefly through his engravings that Duerer became and remains +known to the world; and by the same mode of expression he boldly +showed forth the doubts and despairs, yearnings and conflicts, not +only of his own pure and sorrowful soul, but also of Europe, quivering +in the throes of the Reformation. + +The artists of Italy, when the age of faith was ended, turned to the +empty splendors and symmetries of paganism; but their German brothers +faced the new problems more sternly, and strove for the life of the +future. Under Duerer's hard and homely German scenes, there seem to be +double meanings and unfathomable fancies, usually alluding to sorrow, +sin, and death, and showing forth the vanity of all things earthly. In +sharp contrast with these profound allegories are the humorous +grotesqueness and luxuriant fancifulness which appear in others of the +artist's engravings, fantastic, uncouth, and quaint. He frequently +yielded to the temptation to introduce strange animals and unearthly +monsters into his pictures, even those of the most sacred subjects; +and his so-called "Virgin with the Animals" is surrounded by scores of +birds, insects, and quadrupeds of various kinds. + +It is interesting to hear of the rarity of the early impressions of +Duerer's engravings, and the avidity with which they are sought and the +keenness with which they are analyzed by collectors. In many cases the +copies of these engravings are as good as the originals, and can be +distinguished only by the most trifling peculiarities. The water-marks +of the paper on which they are printed form a certain indication of +their period. Before his Venetian journey Duerer used paper bearing the +water-mark of the bull's head; and, after his return from the +Netherlands, paper bearing a little pitcher; while the middle period +had several peculiar symbols. A fine impression of the copper-plate +engraving of "St. Jerome" recently brought over $500; and the Passion +in Copper sold in 1864 for $300. + +"The Portfolio" for 1877 contains a long series of articles by Prof. +Sidney Colvin on "Albert Duerer: His Teachers, his Rivals, and his +Scholars," treating exhaustively of his relations as an engraver to +other contemporary masters,--Schongauer, Israhel van Meckenen, +Mantegna, Boldini and the Florentines, Jacopo de' Barbari (Jacob +Walch), Marc Antonio, Lucas van Leyden, and certain other excellent +but nameless artists. + +Vasari says, "The power and boldness of Albert increasing with time, +and as he perceived his works to obtain increasing estimation, he now +executed engravings on copper, which amazed all who beheld them." +Three centuries later Von Schlegel wrote, "When I turn to look at the +numberless sketches and copper-plate designs of the present day, Duerer +appears to me like the originator of a new and noble system of +thought, burning with the zeal of a first pure inspiration, and eager +to diffuse his deeply conceived and probably true and great ideas." + +In 1497 Duerer painted the excellent portrait of his father, which the +Rath of Nuremberg presented to Charles I. of England, and which is now +at Sion House, the seat of the Earl of Northumberland. It shows a man +aged yet strong, with grave and anxious eyes, compressed lips, and an +earnest expression. Another similar portrait of the same date is in +the Munich Pinakothek. He also executed two portraits of the pretty +patrician damsel, Catherine Fuerleger; one as a loose-haired Magdalen +(which is now in London), and the other as a German lady (now at +Frankfort). + +In 1498 Duerer painted a handsome portrait of himself, with curly hair +and beard, and a rich holiday costume. His expression is that of a man +who appreciates and delights in his own value, and is thoroughly +self-complacent. This picture was presented by Nuremberg to King +Charles I. of England; and, in the dispersion of his gallery during +the Commonwealth, it was bought by the Grand Duke of Tuscany. It is +now in the Uffizi Gallery, though Muendler calls this Florentine +picture a copy of a nobler original which is in the Madrid Gallery. + +During this year Duerer published his first great series of woodcuts, +representing the Apocalypse of St. John, in fifteen pictures full of +terrible impressiveness and the naturalistic quaintness of early +German faith. The boldness of the youth who thus took for his theme +the marvellous mysteries of Patmos was warranted in the grand +weirdness and perennial fascination of the resulting compositions. +This series of rich and skilful engravings marked a new era in the +history of wood-engraving, and the entrance of a noble artistic spirit +into a realm which had previously been occupied by rude monkish cuts +of saints and miracles. Jackson calls these representations of the +Apocalypse "much superior to all wood-engravings that had previously +appeared, both in design and execution." The series was brought out +simultaneously in German and Latin editions, and was published by the +author himself. It met with a great success, and was soon duplicated +in new pirated editions. + +It has of late years become a contested point as to whether Duerer +really engraved his woodcuts with his own hands, or whether he only +drew the designs on the wood, and left their mechanical execution to +practical workmen. It is only within the present century that a theory +to the latter effect has been advanced and supported by powerful +arguments and first-class authorities. The German scholars Bartsch and +Von Eye, and the historians of engraving Jackson and Chatto, concur in +denying Duerer's use of the graver. But there is a strong and +well-supported belief that many of the engravings attributed to him +were actually done by his hand, and that during the earlier part of +his career he was largely engaged in this way. The exquisite +wood-carvings which are undoubtedly his work show that he was not +devoid of the manual dexterity needful for these plates; and it is +also certain that the mediaeval artists did not hold themselves above +mechanical labors, since even Raphael and Titian were among the +_peintres-graveurs_. Duerer's efforts greatly elevated the art of +wood-engraving in Germany, and this improvement was directly conducive +to its growth in popularity. A large number of skilful engravers were +developed by the new demand; and in his later years Duerer doubtless +found enough expert assistants, and was enabled to devote his time to +more noble achievements. He used the art to multiply and disseminate +his rich ideas, which thus found a more ready expression than +that of painting. Heller attributes one hundred and seventy-four +wood-engravings to him; and many more, of varying claims to +authenticity, are enumerated by other writers. Twenty-six were made +before 1506. The finest and the only perfect collection of Duerer's +woodcuts is owned by Herr Cornill d'Orville of Frankfort-on-the-Main. + +In 1500 Duerer painted the noble portrait of himself which is now at +Munich, and is the favorite of all lovers of the great artist. It +shows a high and intellectual forehead, and tender and loving eyes, +with long curling hair which falls far down on his shoulders. In many +respects it bears the closest resemblance to the traditional pictures +of Christ, with its sad and solemn beauty, and large sympathetic eyes, +and has the same effeminate full lips and streaming ringlets. + +During the next five years Duerer was in some measure compensated for +the trials of his home by the cheerful companionship of his old friend +Pirkheimer, who had recently returned from service with the Emperor's +army in the Tyrolese wars. At his hospitable mansion the artist met +many eminent scholars, reformers, and literati, and broadened his +knowledge of the world, while receiving worthy homage for his genius +and his personal accomplishments. Baumgaertner, Volkamer, Harsdorfer, +and other patricians of the city, were his near friends; and the +Augustine Prior, Eucharius Karl, and the brilliant Lazarus Spengler, +the Secretary of Nuremberg, were also intimate with both Duerer and +Pirkheimer. During the next twenty years the harassed artist often +sought refuge among these gatherings of choice spirits, when weary of +his continuous labors of ambition. + +Duerer pathetically narrates the death of his venerable father, in +words as vivid as one of his pictures, and full of quaint tenderness: +"Soon he clearly saw death before him, and with great patience waited +to go, recommending my mother to me, and a godly life to all of us. He +received the sacraments, and died a true Christian, on the eve of St. +Matthew (Sept. 21), at midnight, in 1502.... The old nurse helped him +to rise, and put the close cap upon his head again, which had become +wet by the heavy sweat. He wanted something to drink; and she gave him +Rhine wine, of which he tasted some, and then wished to lie down +again. He thanked her for her aid, but no sooner lay back upon his +pillows than his last agony began. Then the old woman trimmed the +lamp, and set herself to read aloud St. Bernard's dying song; but she +only reached the third verse, and behold his soul had gone. God be +good to him! Amen. Then the little maid, when she saw that he was +dying, ran quickly up to my chamber, and waked me. I went down fast, +but he was gone; and I grieved much that I had not been found worthy +to be beside him at his end." + +At this time Albert took home his brother Hans, who was then twelve +years old, to learn the art of painting in his studio; and his other +young brother, Andreas, the goldsmith's apprentice, now set forth upon +his _Wander-jahre_. Within two years his mother, the widowed Barbara, +had exhausted her scanty means; and she also was taken into Duerer's +home, and lovingly cared for by her son. + +In 1503 Duerer's frail constitution yielded to an attack of illness. A +drawing of Christ crowned with thorns, now in the British Museum, +bears his inscription: "I drew this face in my sickness, 1503." In the +same year he executed a copper-plate engraving of a skull emblazoned +on an escutcheon, which is crowned by a winged helmet, and supported +by a weird woman, over whose shoulder a satyr's face is peering. A +contemporary copper-plate shows the Virgin nursing the Infant Jesus. +The painting of this same subject, bearing the date of 1503, is now in +the Vienna Belvedere, portraying an unlovely German mother and a very +earthly baby. + +The celebrated "Green Passion" was executed in 1504, and is a series +of twelve drawings on green paper, illustrating the sufferings of +Christ. Some critics prefer this set, for delicacy and power, to +either of the three engraved Passions. The theory is advanced that +these exquisite drawings were made for the Emperor, or some other +magnate, who wished to possess a unique copy. The Green Passion is now +in the Vienna Albertina, the great collection of drawings made by the +Archduke Albert of Sachsen-Teschen, which includes 160 of Duerer's +sketches, designs, travel-notes, studies of costume and architecture, +&c. + +Over 600 authentic sketches and drawings by Duerer are now preserved in +Europe, and are of great interest as showing the freedom and firmness +of the great master's first conceptions, and the gradual evolution of +his ultimate ideas. They are drawn on papers of various colors and +different preparations, with pen, pencil, crayon, charcoal, silver +point, tempera, or water-colors. Some are highly finished, and +others are only rapid jottings or bare outlines. The richest of the +ancient collections was that of Hans Imhoff of Nuremberg, who +married Pirkheimer's daughter Felicitas, and in due time added his +father-in-law's Duerer-drawings to his own collection. His son +Willibald further enriched the family art-treasures by many of +the master's drawings which he bought from Andreas Duerer, and by +inheriting the pictures of Barbara Pirkheimer. He solemnly enjoined +in his will that this great collection should never be alienated, but +should descend through the Imhoff family as an honored possession. His +widow, however, speedily offered to sell the entire series to the +Emperor Rudolph, and it was soon broken up and dispersed. The Earl of +Arundel secured a great number of Duerer's drawings here, and carried +them to England. In 1637 Arundel bought a large folio containing +nearly 200 of these sketches, which was bequeathed to the British +Museum in 1753 by Sir Hans Sloane. The museum has now one of the best +existing collections of these works, some of which are of rare +interest and value, especially the highly finished water-colors and +pen-drawings. + +The interesting sketch-books used by Duerer on his journeys to Venice +and to the Netherlands remained forgotten in the archives of a noble +Nuremberg family until within less than a century, when the family +became extinct, and its property was dispersed. They were then +acquired by the venerable antiquary Baron von Derschau, who sold them +to Nagler and Heller. Nagler's share was afterwards acquired by the +Berlin Museum; and Heller's was bequeathed to the library of Bamberg. + +In 1504 Pirkheimer's wife Crescentia died in childbirth, after only +two years of married life. Her husband bore witness that she had never +caused him any trouble, except by her death; and engaged Duerer to make +a picture of her death-bed. This work was beautifully executed in +water-colors, and depicts the expiring woman on a great bedstead, +surrounded by many persons, among whom are Pirkheimer and his sister +Charitas, the Abbess, with the Augustinian Prior. + +The exquisite copper-plate engraving of "The Nativity" dates from this +year, and shows the Virgin adoring the new-born Jesus, in the shelter +of a humble German house among massive ancient ruins, while Joseph is +drawing water from the well, and an old shepherd approaches the Child +on his knees. The "Adam and Eve" was also done on copper this year, +with the parents of all mankind, surrounded by animals, and standing +near the tree of knowledge, from which the serpent is delivering the +fatal apple to Eve. + +In the same year Duerer painted a carefully wrought "Adoration of +the Kings," for the Elector Frederick the Wise of Saxony. It was +afterwards presented by Christian II. to the Emperor Rudolph, and is +now in the Uffizi, at Florence, which contains more pictures by +Duerer than any other gallery outside of Germany. Here also is the +controverted picture of "Calvary," dated 1505, displaying on one small +canvas all the scenes of the Passion, with an astonishing number of +figures finished in miniature. + +"The Satyr's Family" is an engraving on copper, showing the +goat-footed father cheerily playing on a pipe, to the evident +amusement of his human wife and child. "The Great Horse" and "The +Little Horse" are similar productions of this period, in which the +commentators vainly strive to find some recondite meaning. Sixteen +engravings on copper were made between 1500 and 1506. + +Duerer has been called "The Chaucer of Painting," by reason of the +marvellous quaintness of his conceptions; and Ruskin speaks of him as +"intense in trifles, gloomily minute." His details, minute as they +were, received the most careful study, and were all thought out before +the pictures were begun, so that he neither erased nor altered his +lines, nor made preliminary sketches. He was essentially a thinker who +drew, rather than a drawer who thought. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +The Journey to Venice.--Bellini's Friendship.--Letters to +Pirkheimer.--"The Feast of Rose Garlands."--Bologna.--"Adam and +Eve."--"The Coronation of the Virgin." + + +Late in 1505 Duerer made a journey to Venice, probably with a view to +recover his health, enlarge his circle of friends and patrons, and +study the famous Venetian paintings. He was worn down by continuous +hard work, and weary of the dull uneventfulness of his life, and +hailed an opportunity to rest in sunny Italy. He borrowed money from +Pirkheimer for his journey, and left a small sum for family expenses +during his absence. Between Nuremberg and her rich Southern rival +there was a large commerce, with a weekly post; and many German +merchants and artists were then residing in Venice. Duerer rode down on +horseback; and suffered an attack of illness at Stein, near Laibach, +where he rewarded the artist who had nursed him by painting a picture +on the wall of his house. On arriving at Venice, the master was +cordially received, and highly honored by the chief artists and +literati of the city. The heads of Venetian art at that time were +Giovanni Bellini and Carpaccio, both of whom were advanced in years; +and Giorgione and Titian, who were not mentioned by our traveller, +though they were both at work for the Fondaco de' Tedeschi at the same +time as himself. + +During his residence in Venice he wrote nine long letters to "the +honorable and wise Herr Willibald Pirkheimer, Burgher of Nuremberg," +which were walled up in the Imhoff mansion during the Thirty Years' +War, and discovered at a later age. Much of these letters is taken up +with details about Pirkheimer's commissions for precious stones and +books, or with badinage about the burgher's private life, with +frequent allusions to the support of the Duerers at home. Of greater +interest are the accounts of the writer's successes in art, and the +friends whom he met in Venetian society. The letters were embellished +with rude caricatures and grotesques, matching the broad humor of the +jovial allusions in the text. Either Pirkheimer was a man of most +riotous life, or Duerer was a bold and pertinacious jester, unwearying +in mock-earnest reproofs. These letters were sealed with the Duerer +crest, composed of a pair of open doors above three steps on a shield, +which was a punning allusion to the name Duerer, or Thuerer, _Thuer_ +being the German word for _door_. In the second letter he says,-- + + "I wish you were in Venice. There are many fine fellows among + the painters, who get more and more friendly with me; it + holds one's heart up. Well-brought-up folks, good + lute-players, skilled pipers, and many noble and excellent + people, are in the company, all wishing me very well, and + being very friendly. On the other hand, here are the falsest, + most lying, thievish villains in the whole world, appearing + to the unwary the pleasantest possible fellows. I laugh to + myself when they try it with me: the fact is, they know their + rascality is public, though one says nothing. I have many + good friends among the Italians, who warn me not to eat or + drink with their painters; for many of them are my enemies, + and copy my picture in the church, and others of mine + wherever they meet with them; and yet, notwithstanding this, + they abuse my works, and say that they are not according to + ancient art, and therefore not good. But Gian Bellini has + praised me highly before several gentlemen, and he wishes to + have something of my painting. He came himself, and asked me + to do something for him, saying that he would pay me well for + it; and all the people here tell me what a good man he is, so + that I also am greatly inclined to him." + +These sentences show the artist's pleasure at the kindly way in which +the Italians received him, and also reveal the danger in which he +stood of being poisoned by jealous rivals. Another ambiguous sentence +has given rise to the belief that Duerer had visited Venice eleven +years previously, during his _Wander-jahre_. + +Camerarius says that Bellini was so amazed and delighted at the +exquisite fineness of Duerer's painting, especially of hair, that he +begged him to give him the brush with which he had done such delicate +work. The Nuremberger offered him any or all of his brushes, but +Bellini asked again for the one with which he had painted the hair; +upon which Duerer took one of his common brushes, and painted a long +tress of woman's hair. Bellini reported that he would not have +believed such marvellous work possible, if he had not seen it himself. + +The third letter describes the adventures of the inexpert artist in +securing certain sapphires, amethysts, and emeralds for his "dear Herr +Pirkheimer," and complains that the money earned by painting was all +swallowed up by living expenses. The jealous Venetian painters had +also forced him, by process of law, to pay money to their art-schools. + +His brother Hans was now sixteen years old, and had become a source of +responsibility, for Duerer adds: "With regard to my brother, tell my +mother to speak to Wohlgemuth, and see whether he wants him, or will +give him work till I return, or to others, so that he may help +himself. I would willingly have brought him with me to Venice, which +would have been useful to him and to me, and also on account of his +learning the language; but my mother was afraid that the heavens would +fall upon him and upon me too. I pray you, have an eye to him +yourself: he is lost with the women-folk. Speak to the boy as you +well know how to do, and bid him behave well and learn diligently +until I return, and not be a burden to the mother; for I cannot do +every thing, although I will do my best." + +In the fourth letter he speaks of having traded his pictures for +jewels, and sends greetings to his friend Baumgaertner, saying also: +"Know that by the grace of God I am well, and that I am working +diligently.... I wish that it suited you to be here. I know you would +find the time pass quickly, for there are many agreeable people here, +very good amateurs; and I have sometimes such a press of strangers to +visit me, that I am obliged to hide myself; and all the gentlemen wish +me well, but very few of the painters." + +The fifth letter opens with a long complimentary flourish in a +barbarous mixture of Italian and Spanish, and then chaffs Pirkheimer +unmercifully for his increasing intrigues. It also thanks Pirkheimer +for trying to placate Agnes Frey, who is evidently much disappointed +because her husband lingers so long at Venice. The Prior Eucharius is +besought to pray that Duerer might be delivered from the new and +terrible "French disease," then fatally prevalent in Italy. Mention is +made of Andreas, the goldsmith, Duerer's brother, meeting him at +Venice, and borrowing money to relieve his distress. + +The next letter starts off with quaint mock-deference, and alludes to +the splendid Venetian soldiery, and their contempt of the Emperor. +Farther on are unintelligible allusions, and passages too vulgar for +translation. He says that the Doge and Patriarch had visited his +studio to inspect the new picture, and that he had effectually +silenced the artists who claimed that he was only good at engraving, +and could not use colors. Soon afterwards he writes about the +completion of his great painting of the Rose Garlands; and says, +"There is no better picture of the Virgin Mary in the land, because +all the artists praise it, as well as the nobility. They say they have +never seen a more sublime, a more charming painting." He adds that he +had declined orders to the amount of over 2,000 ducats, in order to +return home, and was then engaged in finishing a few portraits. + +The last letter congratulates Pirkheimer on his political successes, +but expresses a fear lest "so great a man will never go about the +streets again talking with the poor painter Duerer,--with a poltroon +of a painter." In response to Pirkheimer's threat of making love to +his wife if he remained away longer, he said that if such was done, he +might keep Agnes until her death. He also tells how he had been +attending a dancing-school, but could not learn the art, and retired +in disgust after two lessons. + +The picture which Duerer painted for the Fondaco de' Tedeschi was until +recently supposed to be a "St. Bartholomew;" but it is now believed +that it was the renowned "Feast of Rose Garlands," which is now at the +Bohemian Monastery of Strahow. He worked hard on this picture for +seven months, and was proud of its beauty and popularity. The Emperor +Rudolph II. bought it from the church in which it was set up, and had +it carried on men's shoulders all the way from Venice to Prague, to +avoid the dangers attending other modes of conveyance. When Joseph II. +sold his pictures, in 1782, this one was bought by the Abbey of +Strahow, and remained buried in oblivion for three-quarters of a +century. The picture shows the Virgin sitting under a canopy and a +star-strewn crown held by flying cherubs, with the graceful Child in +her lap. She is placing a crown of roses on the head of the Emperor +Maximilian, while Jesus places another on the head of the Pope; and +a monk on one side is similarly honored by St. Dominic, the founder +of the Feast of the Rose Garlands. A multitude of kneeling men and +women on either side are being crowned with roses by merry little +child-angels, flying through the air; while on the extreme right, +Duerer and Pirkheimer are seen standing by a tree. + +Pirkheimer and Agnes had both been urging the master to return; but he +seemed reluctant to exchange the radiance of Italy for the quietness +of his home-circle, and mournfully exclaims, "Oh, how I shall freeze +after this sunshine! Here I am a gentleman, at home only a parasite!" +A brilliant career was open before him at Venice, whose Government +offered him a pension of 200 ducats; but his sense of duty compelled +him to return to Germany, though in bitterness of spirit. Before +turning Northward he rode to Bologna, "because some one there will +teach me the secret art of perspective" (Francesco Francia); and met +Christopher Scheurl, who greatly admired him. A year later Raphael +also came to Bologna, and saw some works left there by Duerer, from +which arose an intimate correspondence and exchanges of pictures +between the artists. The master had been invited to visit the +venerable Mantegna, at Mantua; but that Nestor of North-Italian art +died before the plan was carried out. Duerer afterwards told Camerarius +that this death "caused him more grief than any mischance that had +befallen him during his life." + +Art-critics agree in rejoicing that Duerer conquered the temptations +which were held out to him from the gorgeous Italian city, and +returned to his plain life in the cold North. He escaped the danger of +sacrificing his individualism to the glowing and sensuous Venetian +school of art, and preserved the quaintness and vigor of his own +Gothic inspirations for the joy of future ages. + +The marine backgrounds in many of Duerer's later pictures are referred +by Ruskin to the artist's pleasant memories of Venice, "where he +received the rarest of all rewards granted to a good workman; and, for +once in his life, was understood." Other and wilder landscapes in his +woodcuts were reminiscences of the pastoral regions of the Franconian +Switzerland. + +The personal history of Duerer between 1507 and 1520 was barren of +details, but evidently full of earnest work, as existing pictures bear +witness. It was the golden period of his art-life, abounding in +productiveness. His workshop was the seat of the chief art-school in +Nuremberg, and contained many excellent young painters and engravers, +to whom the master delivered his wise axioms and earnest thoughts in +rich profusion. + +During this period, also, he probably executed certain of his best +works in carving, which are hereinafter described. Dr. Thausing +denies that Duerer used the chisel of the sculptor to any extent, and +refuses to accept the genuineness of the carvings which the earlier +biographers have attributed to him. Scott is of the opinion that in +most cases these rich and delicate works were executed by other +persons, either from his drawings or under his inspection. + +On his return from Venice, Duerer painted life-sized nude figures of +Adam and Eve, representing them with the fatal apple in their hands, +at the moment of the Fall. They are well designed in outline, but +possess a certain anatomical hardness, lacking in grace and mobility. +They were greatly admired by the Nurembergers, in whose Rath-haus +they were placed; but were at length presented to the Emperor Rudolph +II. He replaced them with copies, which Napoleon, in 1796, supposed to +be Duerer's original works, and removed to Paris. He afterwards +presented them to the town of Mayence, where they are still exhibited +as Duerer's. The true originals passed into Spain, where they were +first redeemed from oblivion by Passavant, about the year 1853. A copy +of the Adam and Eve, which was executed in Duerer's studio and under +his care, is now at the Pitti Palace. + +In the spring of 1507 Duerer met at the house of his brother-in-law +Jacob Frey, the rich Frankfort merchant Jacob Heller, who commissioned +him to paint an altar-piece. He was delayed by a prolonged attack of +fever in the summer, and by the closing works on the Elector's +picture. + +Between 1507 and 1514 (inclusive) Duerer made forty-eight engravings +and etchings, and over a hundred woodcuts, bespeaking an iron +diligence and a remarkable power of application. The rapid sale of +these works in frequent new editions gave a large income to their +author, and placed him in a comfortable position among the burghers +of Nuremberg. The religious excitement then prevailing throughout +Europe, on the eve of the Reformation, increased the demand for his +engravings of the Virgin, the saints, and the great Passion series. + +In 1508 Duerer finished the painting of "The Martyrdom of the Ten +Thousand Christians," to which he professed to have given all his time +for a year. It was ordered by Frederick of Saxony, the patron of Lucas +Cranach, who had seen the master's woodcut of the same subject, and +desired it reproduced in an oil-painting. It is a painful and +unpleasant scene, full of brutality and horror; and the picture is +devoid of unity, though conspicuous for clear and brilliant coloring. +Duerer and Pirkheimer stand in the middle of the foreground. + +On the completion of this work the master wrote to Heller, "No one +shall persuade me to work according to what I am paid." He then began +Heller's altar-piece, under unnecessary exhortation "to paint his +picture well," and made a great number of careful studies for the new +composition. When fairly under way, he demanded 200 florins for his +work instead of the 130 florins of the contract-price, which drew an +angry answer from the frugal merchant, with accusations of dishonesty. +The artist rejoined sharply, dwelling upon the great cost of the +colors and the length of the task, yet offering to carry out his +contract in order to save his good faith. Throughout the next year +Heller stimulated the painter to hasten his work, until Duerer became +angry, and threw up the commission. He was soon induced to resume it, +and completed the picture in the summer of 1509, upon which the +delighted merchant paid him gladly, and sent handsome presents to his +wife and brother. Duerer wrote to Heller, "It will last fresh and clean +for five hundred years, for it is not done as ordinary paintings +are.... But no one shall ever again persuade me to undertake a +painting with so much work in it. Herr Jorg Tauss offered himself to +pay me 400 florins for a Virgin in a landscape, but I declined +positively, for I should become a beggar by this means. Henceforward I +will stick to my engraving; and, if I had done so before, I should be +richer by a thousand florins than I am to-day." + +The picture which caused so much argument and toil was "The Coronation +of the Virgin," which was set up over the bronze monument of the +Heller family in the Dominican Church at Frankfort. Its exquisite +delicacy of execution attracted great crowds to the church, and +quickly enriched the monastery. Singularly enough, the most famous +part of the picture was the sole of the foot of one of the kneeling +Apostles, which was esteemed such a marvellous work that great sums +were offered to have it cut out of the canvas. The Emperor Rudolph II. +offered the immense amount of 10,000 florins for the painting, in +vain; but in 1613 it passed into the possession of Maximilian of +Bavaria, and was destroyed in the burning of the palace at Munich, +sixty years later. So the renowned picture, which Duerer said gave him +"more joy and satisfaction than any other he ever undertook," passed +away, leaving no engraving or other memorial, save a copy by Paul +Juvenal. This excellent reproduction is now at Nuremberg, and is +provided with the original wings, beautifully painted by Duerer, +showing on one the portrait of Jacob Heller and the death of St. +James, and on the other Heller's wife, and the martyrdom of St. +Catherine. + +In 1501 the burgher Schiltkrot and the pious copper-smith Matthaeus +Landaeuer founded the House of the Twelve Brothers, an alms-house for +poor old men of Nuremberg; and eight years later, Landaeuer ordered +Duerer to paint an altar-piece of "The Adoration of the Trinity," for +its chapel. Much of the master's time for the next two years was +devoted to this great work. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Duerer's House.--His Poetry.--Sculptures.--The Great and Little +Passions.--Life of the Virgin.--Plagiarists.--Works for the Emperor +Maximilian. + + +Some time after his marriage with Agnes Frey, Duerer moved into the new +house near the Thiergaertner Gate, which had perhaps been bought with +the dowry of his bride. Here he labored until his death, and executed +his most famous works. It is a spacious house, with a lower story of +stone, wide portals, a paved interior court, and pleasant upper rooms +between thick half-timber walls, whose mullioned windows look out on +lines of quaint Gothic buildings and towers, and on the broad paved +square at the foot of the Zisselgasse (now Albrecht-Duerer-Strasse). +Just across the square was the so-called "Pilate's House," whose +owner, Martin Koetzel, had made two pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and +brought back measurements of the Dolorous Way. The artist's house is +now carefully preserved as public property, and contains the gallery +of the Duerer Art-Union. In 1828, on the third centennial of his death, +the people erected a bronze statue of the master, designed by Rauch, +on the square before the house. + +In 1509-10 Duerer derived pleasure and furnished much amusement to his +friends from verse-making, in which he suffered a worse failure even +than Raphael had done. It seems that Pirkheimer ridiculed a long-drawn +couplet which he had made, upon which the master composed a neat bit +of proverbial philosophy, of which the following is a translation:-- + + "Strive earnestly with all thy might, + That God should give thee Wisdom's light; + He doth his wisdom truly prove, + Whom neither death nor riches move; + And he shall also be called wise, + Who joy and sorrow both defies; + He who bears both honor and shame, + He well deserves the wise man's name; + Who knows himself, and evil shuns, + In Wisdom's path he surely runs; + Who 'gainst his foe doth vengeance cherish, + In hell-flame cloth his wisdom perish; + Who strives against the Devil's might, + The Lord will help him in the fight; + Who keeps his heart forever pure, + He of Wisdom's crown is sure; + And who loves God with all his heart, + Chooses the wise and better part." + +But Pirkheimer was not more pleased with this; and the witty Secretary +Spengler sent Duerer a satirical poem, applying the moral of the fable +of the shoemaker who criticised a picture by Apelles. He answered this +in a song of sixty lines, closing with,-- + + "Therefore I will still make rhymes, + Though my friend may laugh at times: + So the Painter with hairy beard + Says to the Writer who mocked and jeered." + +"1510, this have I made on Good and Bad Friends." Thus the master +prefaces a platitudinous poem of thirty lines; which was soon followed +by "The Teacher," of sixty lines. Later in the year he wrote the long +Passion-Song, which was appended to the print of _Christus am Kreuz_. +It is composed of eight sections, of ten lines each, and is full +of quaint mediaeval tenderness and reverence, and the intense +prayerfulness of the old German faith. The sections are named Matins, +the First, Third, Sixth, and Ninth Hours, Vespers, Compline, and Let +Us Pray, the latter of which is redolent with earnest devotion:-- + + "O Almighty Lord and God, + Who the martyr's press hast trod; + Jesus, the only God, the Son, + Who all this to Thyself hast done, + Keep it before us to-day and to-morrow, + Give us continual rue and sorrow; + Wash me clean, and make me well, + I pray Thee, like a soul from hell. + Lord, Thou hast overcome: look down; + Let us at last to share the crown." + +The marvellous high-relief of "The Birth of St. John the Baptist" +as executed in 1510, and shows Duerer's remarkable powers as a +sculptor. It is cut in a block of cream-colored lithographic stone, +7-1/2 x 5-1/2 inches in size, and is full of rich and minute pictorial +details. Elizabeth is rising in bed, aided by two attendants; and the +old nurse brings the infant to Zacharias, who writes its name on a +tablet, while two men are entering at the doorway. The room is +furnished with the usual utensils and properties of a German bedroom. +This wonderful and well-preserved work of art was bought in the +Netherlands about eighty years ago, for $2,500, and is now in the +British Museum. The companion-piece, "St. John the Baptist Preaching +in the Wilderness," is now in the Brunswick Museum, and is carved with +a similar rich effect. This museum also contains a carving in wood, +representing the "Ecce Homo." + +Space would fail to tell of the many beautiful little pieces of +sculpture which Duerer executed in ivory, boxwood, and stone, or of the +numerous excellently designed medals ascribed to him. Chief among +these was the exquisite "Birth of Christ," and the altar of agate, +formerly at Vienna; Adam and Eve, in wood, at Gotha; reliefs of the +Birth and the Agony of Christ, in ivory; the Four Evangelists, in +boxwood, lately at Baireuth; several carvings on ivory, of religious +scenes, at Munich; a woman with padlocked mouth, sitting in the +stocks, cut in soapstone; a delicate relief of the Flight into Egypt; +busts of the Duke and Duchess of Burgundy; and the Love-Fountain, now +at Dresden, with figures of six persons drinking the water. + +The famous painting of "The Adoration of the Trinity" was finished in +1511, and represents God the Father holding up His crucified Son for +the worship of an immense congregation of saints, while overhead is +the mystic Dove, surrounded by a circle of winged cherubs' heads. The +kneeling multitude includes princes, prelates, warriors, burghers, and +peasants, equally accepting the Athanasian dogma. On the left is a +great group of female saints, led by the sweet and stately Virgin +Mary; and on the right are the kneeling prophets and apostles, Moses +with the tables of the Law, and David with his harp. On the broad +terrestrial landscape, far below, Duerer stands alone, by a tall tablet +bearing the Latin inscription of his name and the date of the picture. +The whole scene is full of light and splendor, delicate beauty of +angels, and exquisite minuteness of finish. A century later the Rath +of Nuremberg removed this picture from the sepulchral chapel of its +founder, and presented it to the Emperor Rudolph II. It is now one of +the gems of the Vienna Belvedere. + +About this time the master's brother Andreas, the goldsmith, returned +to Nuremberg after his long wanderings, and eased the evident anxiety +of his family by settling respectably in life. Hans was still in his +brother's studio, where he learned his art so well that he afterwards +became court-painter to the King of Poland. + +In 1511 Duerer published a third edition of the engravings of the +Apocalypse, with a warning to piratical engravers that the Emperor had +forbidden the sale of copies or impressions other than those of the +author, within the Empire, under heavy penalties to transgressors. To +the same year belong three of the master's greatest works in engraving +on wood. + +"The Great Passion" contains twelve folio woodcuts, unequal in +their execution, and probably made by different workmen of varying +abilities. The vignette is an "Ecce Homo;" and the other subjects are, +the Last Supper, Christ at Gethsemane, His Betrayal, the Scourging, +the Mockery, Christ Bearing the Cross, the Crucifixion, the Descent +into Hell, the Maries Mourning over Christ's Body, the Entombment, +and the Resurrection. These powerful delineations of the Agony of Our +Lord are characterized by rare originality of conception, pathos, +and grandeur. They were furnished with Latin verses by the monk +Chelidonius, and bore the imperial warning against imitation. Four +large editions were printed from these cuts, and numerous copies, +especially in Italy, where the Emperor's edict was inoperative. + +"The Little Passion" was a term applied by Duerer himself to +distinguish his series of thirty-seven designs from the larger +pictures of "The Great Passion." It is the best-known of the master's +engravings; and has been published in two editions at Nuremberg, a +third at Venice in 1612, and a fourth at London in 1844. The blocks +are now in the British Museum, and show plainly that they were not +engraved by Duerer. This great pictorial scene of the fall and +redemption of man begins with the sin of Adam and Eve, and their +expulsion from Eden, and follows with thirty-three compositions from +the life and passion of Christ, ending with the Descent of the Holy +Ghost and the Last Judgment. Its title was _Figurae Passionis Domini +Nostri Jesu Christi_; and it was furnished with a set of the Latin +verses of Chelidonius. + +The third of Duerer's great works in wood-engraving was "The Life +of the Virgin," with explanatory Latin verses by the Benedictine +Chelidonius. This was published in 1511, and contains twenty pictures, +full of realistic plainness and domestic homeliness, yet displaying +marvellous skill and power of invention. To the same year belong the +master's engravings of the Trinity, St. Christopher, St. Gregory's +Mass, St. Jerome, St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata, the Holy Family +with the Guitar, Herodias and the Head of John the Baptist, and the +Adoration of the Magi; and the copper-plates of the Crucifixion and +the Virgin with the Pear. + +Duerer was much afflicted by the boldness of many imitators, who +plagiarized his engravings without stint, and flooded the market with +pictures from his designs. His rights were protected but poorly by the +edicts of the Emperor and the city of Nuremberg; and a swarm of +parasitical copyists reproduced every fresh design as soon as it was +published. Marc Antonio Raimondi, the great Italian engraver who +worked so many years with Raphael, was the most dangerous of these +plagiarists, and reproduced "The Little Passion" and "The Life of the +Virgin" in a most exquisite manner, close after their publication. +Vasari says, "It happened that at this time certain Flemings came to +Venice with a great many prints, engraved both in wood and copper by +Albert Duerer, which being seen by Marc Antonio in the Square of St. +Mark, he was so much astonished by their style of execution, and the +skill displayed by Albert, that he laid out on those prints almost all +the money he had brought with him from Bologna, and amongst other +things purchased 'The Passion of Jesus Christ,' engraved on thirty-six +wooden blocks.... Marc Antonio therefore, having considered how much +honor as well as advantage might be acquired by one who should devote +himself to that art in Italy, resolved to attend to it with the +greatest diligence, and immediately began to copy these engravings of +Albert, studying their mode of hatching, and every thing else in the +prints he had purchased, which from their novelty as well as beauty, +were in such repute that every one desired to possess them." + +It appears that Marc Antonio was afterwards enjoined from using +Duerer's monogram on his copies of the Nuremberger's engravings, either +by imperial diplomatic representations to the Italian courts, or else +as the result of a visit which some claim that Duerer made to Italy for +that purpose. Many of the copies of Marc Antonio were rather idealized +adaptations than exact reproductions of the German's designs, but were +furnished with the forged monogram A. D., and sold for Duerer's works. +Sixty-nine of our artist's engravings were copied by the skilful +Italian, profoundly influencing Southern art by the manual dexterity +of the North. This wholesale piracy was carried on between 1505 and +1511, and before Marc Antonio passed under Raphael's overmastering +influence. + +In later years the Rath of Nuremberg warned the booksellers of +the city against selling false copies of Duerer's engravings, and +sent letters to the authorities of Augsburg, Leipsic, Frankfort, +Strasbourg, and Antwerp, asking them to put a stop to such sales +within their jurisdictions. His works have been copied by more than +three hundred artists, the best of whom were Solis, Rota, the Hopfers, +Wierx, Vischer, Schoen, and Kraus. + +In 1512 Duerer made most of the plates for "The Passion in Copper," a +series of sixteen engravings on copper, which was begun in 1507 and +finished in 1513. These plates show the terrible scenes of the last +griefs of the Saviour, surrounded with uncouth German men and women, +buildings and landscapes, yet permeated with mysterious reverence and +solemn simplicity. The series was never published in book form, with +descriptive text, but the engravings were put forth singly as soon as +completed. The prints of "Christ Bound" and "St. Jerome" were +published this same year. + +In 1512 Duerer was first employed by the Emperor Maximilian, who +was not only a patron of the arts but also an artist himself, and +munificently employed the best painters of Germany, though his +treasury was usually but poorly filled. Science and literature also +occupied much of his attention; and, while his realm was engaged in +perpetual wars, he kept up a careful correspondence on profound themes +with many of the foremost thinkers of his day. The records of his +intercourse with Duerer are most meagre, though during the seven years +of their connection they must have had many interviews, especially +while the imperial portrait was being made. + +Melanchthon tells a pretty story, which he heard from Duerer himself. +One day the artist was finishing a sketch for the Emperor, who, +while waiting, attempted to make a drawing himself with one of +the charcoal-crayons; but the charcoal kept breaking away, and he +complained that he could accomplish nothing with it. Duerer then took +it from his hand, saying, "This is my sceptre, your Majesty;" and +afterwards taught the sovereign how to use it. + +The story which is told of so many geniuses who have risen from low +estate is applied also to this one: The Emperor once declared to a +noble who had proudly declined to perform some trivial service for the +artist, "Out of seven ploughboys I can, if I please, make seven lords, +but out of seven lords I cannot make one Duerer." + +Tradition states that the Emperor ennobled Duerer, and gave him a +coat-of-arms. Possibly this was the crest used in his later years, +consisting of three shields on a blue field, above which is a closed +helmet supporting the armless bust and head of a winged negro! + +The idea of the immense woodcut of the Triumphal Arch of Maximilian +was conceived after 1512, either by the Emperor or by the +poet-laureate Stabius; and Duerer was chosen to put it into execution. +The history of the deeds of Maximilian, with his ancestry and family +alliances, was to be displayed in the form of a pictorial triumphal +arch, "after the manner of those erected in honor of the Roman +emperors." The master demanded payment in advance, and received an +order from the Emperor to the Rath of Nuremberg to hold "his and the +Empire's true and faithful Albert Duerer exempt from all the town taxes +and rates, in consideration of our esteem for his skill in art." But +he surrendered this immunity, in deference to the wishes of the Rath; +and Maximilian granted him an annual pension of 100 florins ($200), +which was paid, however, somewhat reluctantly. + +"The Knight, Death, and the Devil," is the most celebrated of Duerer's +engravings, and dates from 1513. It shows a panoplied knight riding +through a rocky defile, with white-bearded Death advancing alongside +and holding up an hour-glass, and the loathsome Satan pursuing +hard after and clutching at the undismayed knight. The numerous +commentators on this picture variously interpret its meaning, some +saying that the knight is an evil-doer, intent on wicked purposes, +whom Death warns to repentance, while Satan rushes to seize him; +others, and the most, that he is the Christian man, fearless among the +menaces of Death and Hell, and steadily advancing in spite of the +horrible apparitions. Others claim that the Knight represents Franz +von Sickingen, a turbulent hero of the Reformation; or Philip Ring, +the Nuremberg herald, who was confronted by the Devil on one of his +night-rides; or Duerer himself, beset by temptations and fears; or +Stephen Baumgaertner, the master's friend, whose portrait bears a +resemblance to the knight's face. Still another interpretation is +given in the romance of "Sintram and his Companions," which was +suggested by this engraving, as we are told by its author, La Motte +Fouque. + +Kugler says: "I believe I do not exaggerate when I particularize this +print as the most important work which the fantastic spirit of German +art has ever produced." It was made in Duerer's blooming time, and the +plate is a wonderful specimen of delicate and exquisite execution. It +has frequently been copied, in many forms. + +"The Little Crucifixion" is one of the most exquisitely finished of +Duerer's engravings on copper, and is a small round picture, about one +inch in diameter, which was made for an ornament on the pommel of the +Emperor's sword. It contains seven figures, full of clearness and +individuality, and engraved with marvellous skill. There are, +fortunately, several very beautiful copies of this print. Other +copper-plates of 1513 were "The Judgment of Paris," and the small +round "St. Jerome." + +The famous Baumgaertner altar-piece was painted for the patrician +family of that name, as a votive picture, in thanksgiving for the safe +return of its knightly members from the Swiss campaigns. Nuremberg +unwillingly surrendered it to Maximilian of Bavaria, and it is now in +the Munich Pinakothek. It consists of a central picture of "The +Nativity," of no special merit, with two wings, the first of which +shows Stephen Baumgaertner, a meagre-faced and resolute knight, in the +character of St. George, while the other portrays the plain-mannered +and practical Lucas Baumgaertner, in the garb of St. Eustachius. These +excellent portrait-figures are clad in armor, and stand by the sides +of their horses. + +The "Vision of St. Eustachius" was executed on copper-plate, and is +one of Duerer's most delicate and beautiful works. It shows the +huntsman Eustachius as a strong and earnest German mystic, kneeling +before the miraculous crucifix set in the stag's forehead, which has +appeared to convict him of his sins, and to stimulate in him that +faith by which he led a new life of prayer and praise, and won a +martyr's crown. His solemn-faced horse seems to realize that a miracle +is taking place; and in the foreground are five delicately drawn +hounds. On the steep hill in the rear a noble and picturesque mediaeval +castle rears its battlemented towers above long lines of cliffs. +Tradition says that the face of Eustachius is a portrait of the +Emperor Maximilian. When the Emperor Rudolph secured the original +plate of the engraving, he had it richly gilded. + +"The Great Fortune," or "The Nemesis," is a copper-plate showing a +repulsively ugly naked woman, with wings, holding a rich chalice and +a bridle, while on the earth below is a beautiful mountain village +between two confluent rivers. Sandrart says that this is the Hungarian +village of Eytas, where Duerer's father was born; but there is +no proof of this theory. "The Coat-of-Arms with the Cock" is a +fine copper-plate, with some obscure allegorical significance, +representing, perhaps, Vigilance by the cock which stands on a closed +helmet, and Faith by the rampant lion on the shield below. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +St. Jerome.--The Melencolia.--Death of Duerer's Mother.--Raphael. +--Etchings.--Maximilian's Arch.--Visit to Augsburg. + + +The copper-plate engraving of "St. Jerome in his Chamber" was executed +in 1514, and is one of Duerer's three greatest works, a marvel of +brilliancy and beauty, full of accurate detail and minute perfection. +The saint has a grand and venerable head, firmly outlined against a +white halo, and is sitting in a cheerful monastic room, lighted by the +sun streaming through two large arched windows, while he writes at his +desk, translating the Scriptures. In the foreground the lion of St. +Jerome is drowsing, alongside a fat watch-dog; a huge pumpkin hangs +from one of the oaken beams overhead; and patristic tomes and +convenient German utensils are scattered about the room. + +"The Virgin on the Crescent Moon" was a copper-plate executed also in +1514, showing the graceful and charming Mary, treated with an idealism +which almost suggests Raphael. This is one of the best of the +seventeen Mary-pictures (_Marien-bilder_) which Duerer executed in +copper. Other copper-plates of 1514 represented Sts. Paul and Thomas, +the Bagpipe-Player, and a Dancing Rustic and his Wife. + +"The Melencolia" is the most weirdly fascinating of Duerer's works, and +the most mysterious and variously interpreted. It represents a woman, +goddess, or devil, fully clad, and bearing keys and a purse at her +girdle, her head wreathed with spleenwort, and great wings springing +from her shoulders; the while she gazes intently, and with unutterable +melancholy, into a magic crystal globe before her. On one side a +drowsy Cupid is trying to write, near a ladder which rises from unseen +depths to unimagined heights; and on the wall are the balanced scales, +the astrological table of figures, the hour-glass running low, and the +silent bell. The floor is strewn with scientific and necromantic +instruments, and a great cube of strange form lies beyond. The +prevailing gloom of the picture is but dimly lighted by a lurid and +solitary comet, whose rays shimmer along an expanse of black ocean, +and are reflected from a firm-arched rainbow above. Across the +alternately black and blazing sky flies a horrible bat-winged +creature, bearing a scroll inscribed with the word MELENCOLIA, before +the blank negations symbolized by the disastrous portent of the comet +and the joyous sign of the rainbow. + +Under the guise of this mystic black-browed woman the artist probably +typifies the profound sorrow of the human soul, checked by Divine +limitations from attaining a full knowledge of the secrets of nature +or the wisdom of heaven. The discarded implements of natural and +occult science are alike useless; and nought remains but gloomy +introspection and a consciousness of insufficiency. + +Duerer describes his mother's death with mournful tenderness and +touching simplicity, saying: "Now you must know that in the year 1513, +on a Tuesday in Cross-week, my poor unhappy mother, whom I had taken +under my charge two years after my father's death, because she was +then quite poor, and who had lived with me for nine years, was taken +deathly sick on one morning early, so that we had to break open her +room; for we knew not, as she could not get up, what to do. So we bore +her down into a room, and she had the sacraments in both kinds +administered to her, for every one thought that she was going to die, +for she had been failing in health ever since my father's death. And +her custom was to go often to church; and she always punished me when +I did not act rightly, and she always took great care to keep me and +my brothers from sin; and, whether I went in or out, her constant word +was, 'In the name of Christ;' and with great diligence she constantly +gave us holy exhortations, and had great care over our souls. And her +good works, and the loving compassion that she showed to every one, I +can never sufficiently set forth to her praise. This my good mother +bore and brought up eighteen children; she has often had the +pestilence and many other dangerous and remarkable illnesses; has +suffered great poverty, scoffing, disparagement, spiteful words, +fears, and great reverses: yet she has never been revengeful. A year +after the day on which she was first taken ill ... my pious mother +departed in a Christian manner, with all sacraments, absolved by +Papal power from pain and sin. She gave me her blessing, and desired +for me God's peace, and that I should keep myself from evil. And she +desired also St. John's blessing, which she had, and she said she was +not afraid to come before God. But she died hard; and I perceived that +she saw something terrible, for she kept hold of the holy water, and +did not speak for a long time. I saw also how Death came, and gave her +two great blows on the heart; and how she shut her eyes and mouth, and +departed in great sorrow. I prayed for her, and had such great grief +for her that I can never express. God be gracious to her! Her greatest +joy was always to speak of God, and to do all to his honor and glory. +And she was sixty-three years old when she died, and I buried her +honorably according to my means. God the Lord grant that I also make a +blessed end, and that God with his heavenly hosts, and my father, +mother, and friend, be present at my end, and that the Almighty God +grant us eternal life! Amen. And in her death she looked still more +lovely than she was in her life." + +In 1514 the prince of Italian painters and the noblest of German +artists exchanged pleasant civilities by correspondence, accompanied +by specimens of their labors. Duerer sent to Raphael his own portrait, +which was afterwards inherited and dearly prized by Giulio Romano. +Raphael returned several of his own studies and drawings, one of +which, showing two naked men drawn in red crayon, is now preserved in +the Albertina at Vienna. It still bears Duerer's inscription: "Raphael +of Urbino, who is so highly esteemed by the Pope, has drawn this study +from the nude, and has sent it to Albert Duerer at Nuremberg, in order +to show him his hand." + +The invention of the art of etching has been generally attributed to +Duerer, though it now seems that he merely improved and perfected the +process. There are but few etchings in existence which can certainly +be ascribed to him; and the chief of these, an "Ecce Homo" and "Christ +in the Garden," date from 1515. The iron plate of the latter was found +two centuries later, in a blacksmith's shop, where it was about to be +made into horse-shoes. A third etching represents a frightfully +homely woman being carried off by a man on a unicorn, a wild and +incomprehensible composition, calculated to awaken an uncomfortable +impression in the beholder. Some of the etchings were on iron, and +others on pewter; but none were on copper, which was afterwards +universally used. The corrosive nitrous acid acted inefficiently on +the metals which he employed, and so his etchings fall short of +excellence. + +In 1514 Jorg Vierling uttered disgraceful libels and threats against +Duerer, and finally attacked him in the street. He was imprisoned by +the authorities; but the kind-hearted artist interceded for him, and +he was released, after being bound over to keep the peace. + +In the same year Duerer wrote to Herr Kress to see if the laureate +Stabius had done any thing about his delayed pension; saying also, +"But if Herr Stabius has done nothing in my matter, or my desire was +too difficult for him to attain, then I pray of you to be my favorable +lord to his Majesty.... Point out to his Majesty that I have served +his Majesty for three years, that I have suffered loss myself from +doing so, and that if I had not used my utmost diligence his +ornamental work would never have been finished in such a manner; +therefore I pray his Majesty to reward me with the 100 guilders." In +September an imperial decree was issued, giving Duerer his promised +pension of $200 a year out of the tax due from Nuremberg to the +Emperor. This annuity was paid to the artist until his death, with one +short intermission. + +Duerer executed for the Emperor a series of most fantastic and +grotesque pen-drawings, on the borders of his prayer-book, now in the +Munich town-library. Alongside the solemn sentences of the breviary +are whimsical monkeys and pigs, Indians and men-at-arms, satyrs and +foxes, screeching devils and saints, hens and prophets, martyrs and +German crones, mingled in a weird wonderland, and not inappropriate +according to mediaeval ideas of taste. "The Great Column" is another +quaint and inexplicable engraving, which Duerer did for the Emperor in +1517, and is composed of four blocks 5-1/3 feet high. It shows two +naked angels holding a large turnip, from which springs a tall column +with two horrible female monsters at the base, and a horned satyr at +the top, holding long garlands. + +The marvellous "Triumphal Arch of Maximilian" is composed of +ninety-two blocks, forming an immense woodcut ten and a half feet high +and nine feet wide. It shows three great towers, under which are the +three gates of Praise, Nobility, and Honor and Power, with the six +chained harpies of temptation, and two vigilant Archdukes in armor, +and figures holding garlands and crowns. The great genealogical tree +rises above the figures that represent France, Sycambria, and Troy, +and bears portrait-like half-figures of the twenty-six Christian +princes from whom Maximilian claimed descent, with pictures of himself +and his family. There are also twenty-four minutely delicate cuts, +showing the most remarkable events in the Emperor's life, accompanied +with rugged explanatory rhymes by the poet-laureate. Dr. von Eye says +that "the extent and difficulty of the task appear to have called +forth the powers of the artist to their highest exercise. In no work +of Duerer's do we find more beautiful drawing than there is here. Each +single piece might be taken out and prized as an independent work of +art." + +The master drew these very elaborate and intricate designs between +1512 and 1515; and the enormous work of engraving them was devolved +upon Hieronymus Roesch of Nuremberg. During its progress the Emperor +frequently visited Roesch's house in the Fraueengaesslein; and it became +a town saying, that "The Emperor still drives often to Petticoat +Lane." On one of his visits, a number of the artist's pet cats ran +into his presence; whence, it is said, arose the proverb, "A cat may +look at a King." + +In 1516 Duerer painted a fine portrait of Wohlgemuth, now at Munich, +showing a wrinkled old face lit up by bright eyes, and inscribed, +"This portrait has Albert Duerer painted after his master Michael +Wohlgemuth, in the year 1516, when he was 82 years old; and he lived +until the year 1519, when he died, on St. Andrew's Day, early, before +the sun had risen." About the same period he designed and partly +executed the Pieta, which is now in the St. Maurice Gallery at +Nuremberg; and carved a Virgin and Child standing on the crescent +moon, similar to the one which he had engraved three years before. + +In 1518 Duerer also painted the scene of the death-bed of the Empress +Mary of Burgundy, under the title of "The Death of the Virgin," and +on the order of Von Zlatko, the Bishop of Vienna. The Emperor +Maximilian, Philip of Spain, Bishop Zlatko, and other notables, were +shown around the couch. This large and important work was in the sale +of the Fries collection in 1822, but cannot now be found, although +there is a rumor that it is on the altar of a rural church near St. +Wolfgang's Lake, in Upper Austria. + +In 1518 Duerer visited Augsburg, during the session of the Diet of the +Empire, and not only sold many of his engravings, but made a number of +new sketches and portraits. His most important work on this journey +was a portrait of the Emperor, who gave an order on the town of +Nuremberg to pay 200 guldens "to the Emperor's and the Empire's dear +and faithful Albert Duerer." On this picture the master inscribed, +"This is the Emperor Maximilian, whom I, Albert Duerer, drew at +Augsburg, in his little room high up in the imperial residence, in the +year 1518, on the Monday after St. John the Baptist." About the same +time the master painted the unpleasant picture of "The Suicide of +Lucretia," now at Munich, showing an ill-formed nude woman of life +size, said to have been copied from Agnes Frey. The portrait of the +witty and learned Lazarus Spengler dates from the same year. + +When Maximilian died, the Rath of Nuremberg refused to continue the +pension which he had granted to Duerer, though the artist addressed its +members as "Provident, Honorable, Wise, Gracious, and Dear Lords," and +enumerated his services to the dead Emperor. He also vainly demanded +the payment of the imperial order for 200 florins, "to be paid to him +as if to Maximilian himself, out of the town taxes due to the Emperor +on St. Martin's Day," though he offered to leave his house in pledge, +so that the town might lose nothing if the new Emperor refused to +acknowledge the validity of the claim. + +At the time of the death of Maximilian the great woodcut of "The +Triumphal Arch" was unfinished, and the blocks remained in the hands +of the engraver. Duerer and Roesch published a large round cut +containing twenty-one of the historical scenes, as a memorial of the +late sovereign, and this singular production speedily went through +four editions. A few trial-impressions of the whole Arch had been +struck off before the Emperor's death, two of which are now at +Copenhagen, one in the British Museum, and one at Stockholm. In 1559 +the first edition of the entire Arch was printed at Vienna, at the +request of the Archduke Ferdinand, and another edition was issued by +Bartsch in 1799. + +In 1519 Duerer published an excellent wood-engraving of the late +Emperor Maximilian, with inscriptions recording his titles and the +date of his death. It showed a pleasant face, full of strength and +character. Among the painted portraits of Maximilian which are +attributed to the master, the best is in the Vienna Belvedere; and +another was in the late Northwick Collection, in England. A beautiful +portrait in water-colors is in the library of the Erlangen University. + +In 1519 Duerer also prepared an exquisitely finished copper-plate +engraving of "St. Anthony," showing the meditative hermit before a +background of a quaint mediaeval city, very like Nuremberg, abounding +in irregular gable-roofs and tall castle-towers. Several admirable +copies of this work have been made. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Duerer's Tour in the Netherlands.--His Journal.--Cologne.--Feasts at +Antwerp and Brussels.--Procession of Notre Dame.--The _Confirmatia_. +--Zealand Journey.--Ghent.--Martin Luther. + + +Duerer's famous tour to the Netherlands began in the summer of 1520, +and continued until late in 1521. His main object appears to have been +to secure from Charles V. a confirmation of the pension which the +Emperor Maximilian had granted him, since the Rath of Nuremberg had +refused to deliver any further sums until he could obtain such a +ratification. Possibly he also hoped to obtain the position of +court-painter, to which Titian was afterwards appointed. Several +biographers say that Duerer made the journey in order to get a respite +from his wife's tirades; but this is unlikely, since he took her and +her maid Susanna with him. The Archduchess Margaret, daughter of the +late Emperor Maximilian and aunt of Charles V., was at Brussels, +acting as Regent of the Netherlands; and Duerer made strong but +ineffectual attempts to secure her good graces. + +Duerer's journal of his tour is a combination of cash account, +itinerary, memoranda, and notebook, and would fill about fifty of +these pages. It is usually barren of reflections, opinions, or +prolonged descriptions; and is but a terse and business-like record of +facts and expenses, rich only in its revelations of mediaeval Flemish +hospitality and municipal customs, and certain personal habits of the +writer. The greatest impression seems to have been made upon the +traveller by the enormous wealth of the Low Countries, and the +adjective "costly" continually recurs. The new-found treasures of +America were then pouring a stream of gold into the Flemish cities, +and manufactures and commerce were in full prosperity. The devastating +storm of Alva's Spanish infantry had not yet swept over the doomed but +heroic Netherlands; and her great cities basked in peace, prosperity, +and wealth. + +"On the Thursday after Whitsuntide, I, Albert Duerer, at my own cost +and responsibility, set out with my wife from Nuremberg for the +Netherlands.... I went on to Bamberg, where I gave the Bishop a +picture of the Virgin, 'The Life of the Virgin,' an Apocalypse, +and other engravings of the value of a florin. He invited me to +dinner, and gave me an exemption from customs, and three letters of +recommendation." He hired a carriage to take him to Frankfort for +eight florins of gold, and received a parting stirrup-cup from Meister +Benedict, and the painter Hans Wolfgang Katzheimer. He gives the names +of the forty-three villages through which he passed along the route by +Wuerzburg and Carlstadt to Frankfort, with his expenditures for food +and for gifts to servants; and tells how the Bishop's letter freed him +from paying tolls. At Frankfort he was cheaply entertained by Jacob +Heller, for whom he had painted "The Coronation of the Virgin." From +thence he descended by boat to Mayence, where he received many gifts +and attentions. In the river-passages hence to Cologne, he was forced +to haul in shore and arrange his tolls at Ehrenfels, Bacharach, Caub, +St. Goar, and Boppart. At Cologne he was entertained by his cousin +Nicholas Duerer, who had learned the goldsmith's trade in the shop of +Albert's father, and was now settled in business. The master made +presents to him and his wife. The Barefooted Monks gave Duerer a feast +at their monastery; and Jerome Fugger presented him with wine. The +journey was soon resumed; and the master passed through fourteen +villages, and at last reached Antwerp, where he was feasted by the +factor of the illustrious Fugger family. Jobst Planckfelt was Duerer's +host while he remained in the city, and showed him the Burgomaster's +Palace and other sights of Antwerp, besides introducing him to Quentin +Matsys and other eminent Flemish artists. + +"On St. Oswald's Day, the painters invited me to their hall, with my +wife and maid; and every thing there was of silver and other costly +ornamentation, and extremely costly viands. There were also all their +wives there; and when I was conducted to the table all the people +stood up on each side, as if I had been a great lord. There were +amongst them also many persons of distinction, who all bowed low, +and in the most humble manner testified their pleasure at seeing me, +and they said they would do all in their power to give me pleasure. +And, as I sat at table, there came in the messenger of the Rath of +Antwerp, who presented me with four tankards of wine in the name of +the Magistrates; and he said that they desired to honor me with this, +and that I should have their good-will.... And for a long time we were +very merry together until quite late in the night; then they +accompanied us home with torches in the most honorable manner, and +they begged us to accept their good-will, and said they would do +whatever I desired that might be of assistance to me. Then I thanked +them, and went to bed." + +He next speaks of making portraits of his friend the Portuguese +consul, his host Planckfelt, and the musician Felix Hungersberg; +and keeps account of his sales of paintings and engravings, on the +same pages which record his junketings with various notable men. He +dined with one of the Imhoffs and with Meister Joachim Patenir, the +landscape-painter, with whom he had certain professional transactions. +He soon became intimately acquainted with the three Genoese brothers, +Tomasin, Vincent, and Gerhartus Florianus, with whom he dined many +times, and for whom he drew several portraits. He also met the great +scholar and half-way reformer, Erasmus, who gave him several pleasing +presents. + +"Our Lady's Church at Antwerp is so immensely big, that many masses +may be sung in it at one time without interfering with each other; and +it has altars and rich foundations, and the best musicians that it is +possible to have. The church has many devout services, and stone work, +and particularly a beautiful tower. And I have also been to the rich +Abbey of St. Michael, which has the costly stone seat in its choir. +And at Antwerp they spare no cost about such things, for there is +money enough there." + +He made portraits of Nicholas Kratzer, then professor of astronomy at +Oxford University; Hans Plaffroth; and Tomasin's daughter; and gave +several score of his engravings to the Portuguese consul and to his +compatriot Ruderigo, who had sent a large quantity of sweetmeats to +the artist, and a green parrot to his wife. + +Something of diplomatic tact is shown in Duerer's making presents to +Meister Gillgen, the Emperor's door-keeper, and to Meister Conrad, the +sculptor of the Archduchess Margaret. He seems to have been preparing +to seek an invitation to court. + +In September Duerer and Tomasin journeyed to Mechlin, where they +invited Meister Conrad and one of his artist-friends to a supper. The +next day they passed through Vilvorde, and came to Brussels. Here the +master was introduced to a new and splendid society and a city rich +in works of art. He speaks of dining with "My Lord of Brussels," the +Imperial Councillor Bannisius, and the ambassadors of Nuremberg; and +Bernard van Orley, formerly a pupil of Raphael and now court-painter +to the Regent Margaret, invited him to a feast at which he met the +Regent's treasurer, the royal court-master, and the town-treasurer of +Brussels. He also visited the Margrave of Anspach and Baireuth, with a +letter of introduction from the Bishop of Bamberg; and drew portraits +of Meister Conrad, Bernard van Orley, and several others. The Regent +Margaret received him "with especial kindness," and promised to use +her influence for his advancement at the imperial court. He presented +copies of the Passion to her and her treasurer, and many other +engravings to other eminent persons in the city. + +"And I have seen King Charles's house at Brussels, with its fountains, +labyrinth, and park. It gave me the greatest pleasure; and a more +delightful thing, and more like a Paradise, I have never before +seen.... At Brussels there is a very big and costly Town-hall, built +of hewn stone, with a splendid transparent tower. I have seen in the +Golden Hall the four painted matters which the great Meister Rudier +[Roger van der Weyden] has done.... I have also been into the +Nassau-house, which is built in such a costly style and so beautifully +ornamented. And I saw the two beautiful large rooms and all the costly +things in the house everywhere, and also the great bed in which fifty +men might lie; and I have also seen the big stone which fell in a +thunderstorm in the field close to the Count of Nassau. This house is +very high, and there is a fine view from it, and it is much to be +admired; and I do not think in all Germany there is any thing like +it.... Also I have seen the thing which has been brought to the King +from the new Golden Land [Mexico], a sun of gold a fathom broad, and a +silver moon just as big. Likewise two rooms full of armor; likewise +all kinds of arms, harness, and wonderful missiles, very strange +clothing, bed-gear and all kinds of the most wonderful things for +man's use, that are as beautiful to behold as they are wonderful. +These things are all so costly, that they have been valued at 100,000 +gulden. And I have never in all the days of my life seen any thing +that has so much rejoiced my heart as these things. For I have seen +among them wonderfully artistic things, and I have wondered at the +subtle _Ingenia_ of men in foreign lands." + +While at Brussels Duerer was the guest of Conrad the sculptor, and +Ebner the Nuremberg ambassador. He returned at length to Antwerp, +where his Portuguese friends sent him several maiolica bowls and some +Calcutta feathers, and his host gave also certain Indian and Turkish +curiosities. The jovial dinners with Planckfelt and Tomasin were again +begun, and were supplemented by feasts with the Von Rogendorffs and +Fugger's agent. The master gave away hundreds of his engravings here, +either to his friends or to influential courtiers; and all these +details he faithfully records. He seems to have been an indefatigable +investigator and collector of curiosities, imported trinkets, and +china. With childlike delight he narrates the brilliant spectacles +around him. + +"I have seen, on the Sunday after the Assumption of Our Blessed Lady, +the great procession from Our Lady's Church at Antwerp, when the whole +town was assembled, artisans and people of rank, every one dressed in +the most costly manner according to its station. Every class and every +guild had its badge by which it might be recognized; large and costly +tapers were also borne by some of them. There were also long silver +trumpets of the old Frankish fashion. There were also many German +pipers and drummers, who piped and drummed their loudest. Also +I saw in the street, marching in a line in regular order, with +certain distances between, the goldsmiths, painters, stonemasons, +embroiderers, sculptors, joiners, carpenters, sailors, fishmongers, +... and all kinds of artisans who are useful in producing the +necessaries of life. In the same way there were the shopkeepers and +merchants and their clerks. After these came the marksmen with +firelocks, bows, and cross-bows, some on horseback and some on foot. +After that came the City Guards; and at last a mighty and beautiful +throng of different nations and religious orders, superbly costumed, +and each distinguished from the other, very piously. I remarked in +this procession a troop of widows who lived by their labor. They all +had white linen cloths covering their heads, and reaching down to +their feet, very seemly to behold. Behind them I saw many brave +persons, and the canons of Our Lady's Church, with all the clergy +and bursars, where twenty persons bore Our Lady with the Lord Jesus +ornamented in the most costly manner to the glory of the Lord God. In +this procession there were many very pleasant things, and it was very +richly arranged. There were brought along many wagons, with moving +ships, and other things. Then followed the Prophets, all in order; the +New Testament, showing the Salutation of the Angel, the three Holy +Kings on their camels, and other rare wonders very beautifully +arranged.... At the last came a great dragon led by St. Margaret and +her maidens, who were very pretty; also St. George, with his squire, a +very handsome Courlander. Also a great many boys and girls, dressed in +the most costly and ornamental manner, according to the fashion of +different countries, rode in this troop, and represented so many +saints. This procession from beginning to end was more than two hours +passing by our house; and there were so many things that I could never +write them all down even in a book, and so I leave it alone." + +Raphael died during this year, and Duerer made strenuous efforts to +secure some of his drawings or other remains. He met Tommaso Vincidore +of Bologna, a pupil of the great master, and gave him an entire set of +his best engravings for an antique gold ring, and another set to be +sent to Rome in exchange for some of Raphael's sketches. He also gave +a complete set of his engravings to the Regent Margaret, and made for +her two careful drawings on parchment. Vincidore painted his portrait, +to be sent to Rome; and it was engraved by Adrian Stock, showing his +glorious eyes and long flowing hair, together with a short dense beard +overshadowed by a massive moustache, curled back at the points. + +Later in the autumn Duerer journeyed to Aix-la-Chapelle, where he +attended the splendid ceremonies of the coronation of the Emperor +Charles V. At Aix he saw the famous columns brought from Rome by +Charlemagne, the arm of Kaiser Henry, the chemise and girdle of the +Virgin Mary, and other relics. His wife was back at Antwerp; and so +the reckless artist chronicles his outlays for drinking, gaming, and +other reprehensible expenses. After being entertained for three weeks +at the Nuremberg embassy, Duerer went to Cologne, where he remained a +fortnight, distributing his engravings with generous hand, visiting +the churches and their pictures, and buying all manner of odd things. +Early in November, by the aid of the Nuremberg ambassadors, he +obtained from the Emperor his _Confirmatia_, "with great trouble and +labor." This coveted document, which formed one of the main objects +of his journey to the North, confirmed him in the pension which +Maximilian had granted him, and made him painter to the Emperor. + +From Cologne he returned with all speed down the river to Antwerp, +being entertained at Bois-le-Duc, "a pretty town, which has an +extraordinarily beautiful church," by the painter Arnold de Ber and +the goldsmiths, "who showed me very much honor." On arriving at +Antwerp, he resumes his accounts of the sales and gifts of his +engravings, and the enumeration of his domestic expenses. Soon +afterward he heard of a monstrous whale being thrown up on the +Zealand coast, and posted off in December to see it, taking a vessel +from Bergen-op-Zoom, of whose well-built houses and great markets he +speaks. "We sailed before sunset by a village, and saw only the points +of the roofs projecting out of the water; and we sailed for the island +of Wohlfaertig [Walcheren], and for the little town of Sunge in another +adjacent island. There were seven islands; and Ernig, where I passed +the night, is the largest. From thence we went to Middleburg, where I +saw in the abbey the great picture that Johann de Abus [Mabuse] had +done. The drawing is not so good as the painting. After that we came +to Fahr, where ships from all lands unload: it is a fine town. But at +Armuyden a great danger befell me; for just as we were going to land, +and our ropes were thrown out, there came a large ship alongside of +us, and I was about to land, but there was such a press that I let +every one land before me, so that nobody but I, Georg Kotzler, two old +women, and the skipper with one small boy, were left in the ship. And +when I and the above-named persons were on board, and could not get on +shore, then the heavy cable broke, and a strong wind came on, which +drove our ship powerfully before it. Then we all cried loudly for +help, but no one ventured to give it; and the wind beat us out again +to sea.... Then there was great anxiety and fear; for the wind was +very great, and not more than six persons on board. But I spoke to the +skipper, and told him to take heart, and put his trust in God, and +consider what there was to be done. Then he said he thought, if we +could manage to hoist the little sail, he would try whether we could +not get on. So with great difficulty, and working all together, we got +it half way up, and sailed on again; and when those on the land saw +this, and how we were able to help ourselves, they came and gave us +assistance, so that we got safely to land. Middleburg is a good town, +and has a very beautiful Town-house with a costly tower. And there are +also many things there of old art. There is an exceedingly costly and +beautiful seat in the abbey, and a costly stone aisle, and a pretty +parish church. And in other respects also the town is very rich in +subjects for sketches. Zealand is pretty and marvellous to see, on +account of the water, which is higher than the land." + +The tide had carried off the stranded whale; and so Duerer returned +to Antwerp, staying a few days at Bergen. Soon afterwards he gave +Von Rafensburg three books of fine engravings in return for five +snail-shells, nine medals, four arrows, two pieces of white coral, +two dried fish, and a scale of a large fish. Improvident collector +of curiosities! how did the matronly Agnes endure such tradings? +Many dinners with the Genoese Tomasin are then recorded, and fresh +collations with new friends, in the hearty and hospitable spirit of +the easy-living Netherlanders. He repaid the quaint presents of his +admirers with many copies of his engravings, and occasionally made +some money in the practice of his profession. + +"On Shrove Tuesday early the goldsmiths invited me and my wife to +dinner. There were many distinguished people assembled, and we had an +extremely costly meal, and they did me exceeding much honor; and in +the evening the senior magistrate of the town invited me, and gave me +a costly meal, and showed me much honor. And there came in many +strange masks." He then records his exchanges of engravings for such +singular returns as satin, candied citron, ivory salt-cellars from +Calcutta, sea-shells, monk's electuary, sweetmeats in profusion, +porcelains, an ivory pipe, coral, boxing-gloves, a shield, lace, +fishes' fins, sandal-wood, &c. The Portuguese ambassador invited him +to a rich Carnival feast, where there were "many very costly masks;" +and the learned Petrus AEgidius entertained him and Erasmus of +Rotterdam together. He climbed up the cathedral tower, and "saw over +the whole town from it, which was very agreeable." Many of the +curiosities which he had acquired were sent as presents to Pirkheimer, +the Imhoffs, the Holzschuhers, and other noble friends in Nuremberg. +Arion, the ex-Pensionary of Antwerp, gave him a feast, and presented +him with Patenir's painting of "Lot and his Daughters." + +Soon after Easter, Duerer made another pleasant tour in the +Netherlands, attended by the painter Jan Plos, passing by "the rich +Abbey of Pol," and "the great long village of Kahlb," to "the splendid +and beautiful town" of Bruges. Plos and the goldsmith Marx each gave +him costly feasts, and showed him the Emperor's palace, the Archery +Court, and many paintings by Roger van der Weyden, Hubert and Jan van +Eyck, and Hugo van der Goes, together with an alabaster Madonna by +Michael Angelo. "We came at last to the Painters' Chapel, where there +are many good things. After that they prepared a banquet for me. And +from thence I went with them to their guild, where many honorable +folk, goldsmiths, painters, and merchants, were assembled; and they +made me sup with them, and did me great honor. And the Rath gave me +twelve measures of wine; and the whole assembly, more than sixty +persons, accompanied me home with torches. + +"And when I arrived at Ghent, the chief of the painters met me, and +he brought with him all the principal painters of the town; and they +showed me great honor, and received me in very splendid style, and +they assured me of their good-will and service; and I supped that +evening with them. On Wednesday early they took me to St. John's +Tower, from which I saw over all the great and wonderful town. +After that I saw Johann's picture [Van Eyck's 'Adoration of the +Spotless Lamb']. It is a very rich and grandly conceived painting; +and particularly Eve, the Virgin Mary, and God the Father, are +excellent.... Ghent is a beautiful and wonderful town, and four great +waters flow through it. And I have besides seen many other very +strange things at Ghent, and the painters with their chief have never +left me; and I have eaten morning and night with them, and they have +paid for every thing, and have been very friendly with me." + +The master soon returned to Antwerp, in distress. "In the third +week after Easter a hot fever attacked me, with great faintness, +discomfort, and headache. And when I was in Zealand, some time back, a +wonderful illness came upon me, which I had never heard of any one +having before; and this illness I have still." This low fever never +quite left him, and was the cause of many doctor's bills thereafter. +Soon afterward he made a portrait of the landscape-painter Joachim +Patenir; and "on the Sunday before Cross-week, Meister Joachim invited +me to his wedding, and they all showed me much respect; and I saw two +very pretty plays there, particularly the first, which was very pious +and clerical." + +Duerer seems to have had strong Protestant sympathies, though it is +claimed that he died in the faith of Rome. His journal in 1521 +contains the following significant sentences about Martin Luther: "He +was a man enlightened by the Holy Ghost, and a follower of the true +Christian faith.... He has suffered much for Christ's truth, and +because he has rebuked the unchristian Papacy which strives against +the freedom of Christ with its heavy burdens of human laws; and for +this we are robbed of the price of our blood and sweat, that it may be +expended shamefully by idle, lascivious people, whilst thirsty and +sick men perish of hunger.... Lord Jesus Christ, call together again +the sheep of thy fold, of whom part are still to be found amongst the +Indians, Muscovites, Russians, and Greeks, who through the burdens and +avarice of the Papacy have been separated from us. Never were any +people so horribly burdened with ordinances as us poor people by the +Romish See; we who, redeemed by thy blood, ought to be free +Christians. + +"O God, is Luther dead? Who will henceforth explain to us so clearly +the holy Gospel? O all pious Christian men, bewail with me this +God-inspired man, and pray to God to send us another enlightened +teacher! O Erasmus of Rotterdam, where dost thou remain? Behold how +the unjust tyranny of this world's might and the powers of darkness +prevail! Hear, thou knight of Christ; ride forth in the name of the +Lord, defend the truth, attain the martyr's crown; thou art already an +old manikin, and I have heard thee say that thou gavest thyself only +two years longer in which thou wilt still be fit for work. Employ +these well, then, in the cause of the Gospel and the true Christian +faith." + +More junketings, gamings, collecting of outlandish things, visits to +religious and civic pageants, new sketches and paintings, doctor's +bills and monk's fees, minutely recorded. "Meister Gerhard, the +illuminator, has a daughter of eighteen years, called Susanna; and she +has illuminated a plate, a Saviour, for which I gave a florin. It is a +great wonder that a woman should do so well!... I have again and again +done sketches and many other things in the service of different +persons, and for the most part of my work I have received nothing at +all." + +After Corpus Christi Day, Duerer sent off several bales of his +acquisitions to Nuremberg, by the wagoner Cunz Mez. He and his wife +then went to Mechlin; "and the painters and sculptors entertained me +at my inn, and showed me great honor; and I went to Popenreuther's +house, the cannon-founder, and found many wonderful things there. I +have also seen the Lady Margaret [the Archduchess and Regent], and +carried the portrait of the Emperor, which I intended to present to +her; but she took such a displeasure therein, I brought it away with +me again. And on the Friday she showed me all her beautiful things, +and amongst them I saw forty small pictures in oil, pure and good: I +have never seen finer miniatures. And then I saw other good things of +Johann's [Van Eyck] and Jacob Walch's. I begged my Lady to give me +Meister Jacob's little book, but she said she had promised it to her +painter." + +Duerer seems to have been treated with scant courtesy by the +Archduchess, and soon returned to Antwerp. Here he was entertained +by the eminent Lucas van Leyden, for whom he made a portrait, and +received one of himself in return. The stately Nuremberger and the +diminutive artist of Leyden were much astonished at each other's +personal appearance, but had a warm mutual respect and esteem. Duerer +next struck up a warm friendship with certain of the Augustine monks, +and dined often at their cloister. In addition to the _bric-a-brac_ +which he still continued to collect, he now began to buy precious +stones, in which he was badly swindled by a Frenchman, and dolefully +wrote, "I am a fool at a bargain." + +He was now about to return home, and naturally found it necessary, +after having bought such a museum of oddities and curiosities, to +borrow enough money to take him to Nuremberg. His friend Alexander +Imhoff lent him 100 gold florins, receiving Duerer's note in return. In +some bitterness of spirit he wrote: "In all my transactions in the +Netherlands, with people both of high and low degree, and in all my +doings, expenses, sales, and other trafficking, I have always had the +disadvantage; and particularly the Lady Margaret, for all I have given +her and done for her, has given me nothing in return." + +On the eve of Duerer's departure, the King of Denmark, Christian II., +came to Antwerp, and not only had the master draw his portrait, but +also invited him to a dinner. He then went to Brussels, on business +for his new royal patron, and was present at the pompous reception and +banquet with which the Emperor and the Archduchess Margaret received +the Danish King. Soon afterwards the King invited Duerer to the feast +which he gave to the Emperor and Archduchess; and then had his +portrait painted in oil-colors, paying thirty florins for it. After a +sojourn of eight days in Brussels, the master and his wife went south +to Cologne, spending four long days on the road; and soon afterwards +prolonged their journey to Nuremberg. + +The municipality of Antwerp had offered him a house and a liberal +pension, to remain in that city; but he declined these, being content +with his prospects and his noble friends in Franconia. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + Nuremberg's Reformation.--The Little Masters.--Glass-Painting. + --Architecture.--Letter to the City Council.--"Art of Mensuration." + --Portraits.--Melanchthon. + + +What a commotion must Duerer's return have caused in Nuremberg, with +his commission as court-painter, and his bales and crates of rarities +from America and India and all Europe! The presents which he had +brought for so many of his friends must have given the liveliest +delight, and afforded amusement for months to the Sodalitas Literaria +and the Rath-Elders. + +In the mean time the purifying storm of the Reformation was sweeping +over Germany, and the people were in times of great doubt and +perplexity. Nuremberg was the first of the free cities of the Empire +to pronounce herself Protestant, though the change was effected with +so much order and moderation that no iconoclastic fury was allowed to +dilapidate its churches and convents. Pirkheimer and Spengler were +excommunicated by the Pope, though their calm conservatism had +curbed the fanatical fury of the puritans, and saved the Catholic +art-treasures of the Franconian capital. + +It is a significant fact that Duerer, during the last six years of his +life, made no more Madonnas, and but one Holy Family. The era of +Mariolatry had passed, so far as Nuremberg was concerned. Yet, during +the year of his return from the Netherlands, he made two engravings of +St. Christopher bearing the Holy Child safely above the floods and +through the storms, as if to indicate that Christianity would be +carried through all its disasters by an unfailing strength. + +During the remaining six years of his life Duerer's art-works were +limited to a few portraits and engravings, and the great pictures of +the Four Apostles. Much of his time was devoted to the publication of +the fruits of his long experience, in several literary treatises, most +of which are now lost. His broken health would not allow of continuous +work, as the inroads of insidious disease slowly wasted his strength +and ate away his vitality. + +The Little Masters were a group of artists who were formed in +the studio or under the influence of Duerer, shining as a bright +constellation of genius in the twilight of German art. Among these +were the Bavarian Altdorfer, who combined in his brilliant paintings +and engravings both fantasy and romanticism; the Westphalian +Aldegrever, a laborious painter and a prolific engraver; Barthel +Beham, who afterwards studied with and counterfeited the works of +Marc Antonio in Italy; Hans Sebald Beham, who illustrated lewd +fables and prayer books with equal skill and relish, and was finally +driven from Nuremberg; Jacob Binck of Cologne, a neat and accurate +draughtsman, who removed to Rome, and engraved Raphael's works under +the supervision of Marc Antonio; George Pensz, who also studied under +the great Italian engraver, and executed 126 fine prints, besides +several paintings. Other assistants and pupils of Duerer, of whom +little but their names are now remembered, were Hans Brosamer of Fulda, +and Hans Springinklee. Hans von Culmbach was a careful follower, who +surpassed his master in love of nature and her warm and harmonious +colors. The Tucher altar-piece in St. Sebald's Church was his +master-picture. Contemporary with the Nuremberg painter, Matthew +Grunewald was doing excellent work at Aschaffenburg, in northern +Franconia. Among the German artists of his time, he was surpassed +only by Duerer and Holbein. + +The Diet of the Empire was held at Nuremberg in 1522, and the +Rath-haus was repainted and decorated for its sessions. Duerer was paid +100 florins for his share in this work, although it is not known what +it was. The best of the paintings were executed by his pupil, George +Pensz, and it is probable that the master furnished some of the +designs. + +Although our artist held a pension from the Emperor as his +court-painter, his services seem to have never been called into +requisition. Charles spent but little time at Nuremberg, and while yet +in his youth had no care for seeing himself portrayed on canvas. It +was after the master's death that the Emperor first met Titian, and +retained him as court-painter. + +In 1522 Duerer published at his own cost the first edition of the +Triumphal Car of Kaiser Maximilian, a woodcut whose labored and +ponderous allegorical idea was conceived by Pirkheimer, designed +in detail by Duerer, and engraved by Roesch on eight blocks, forming +a picture 7-1/2 feet long by 1-1/2 feet high. The Emperor is shown +seated in a chariot, surrounded by female figures representing the +abstract virtues, while the leaders of the twelve horses, and even +the wheels and reins, have magniloquent Latin names. Maximilian was +greatly interested in this work, but died before its completion. The +first edition was accompanied by explanatory German text, and the +second by Latin descriptions. + +The large woodcut of Ulrich Varnbuehler, whom Duerer calls his "single +friend," is one of the master's best works, and was printed over with +three blocks, to produce a chiaroscuro. A little later, he made two +copper-plates of the Cardinal Archbishop Albert of Magdeburg and +Mayence. + +In 1523, while under the influence of the art-schools of the Lower +Rhine, the master painted the pictures of Sts. Joachim and Joseph and +St. Simeon and Bishop Lazarus, small figures on a gold ground. + +Duerer's Family Relation records that, "My dear mother-in-law took ill +on Sunday, Aug. 18, 1521; and on Sept. 29, at nine of the night, she +died piously. And in 1523, on the Feast of the Presentation, early in +the morning, died my father-in-law, Hans Frey. He had been ill for six +years, and had his share of troubles in his time." They were buried in +St. John's Cemetery, in the same lot where the remains of their +illustrious son-in-law were afterwards laid. + +It is said that Duerer largely occupied himself with glass-painting, +during the earlier part of his career; and he probably designed much +for the workers in stained glass then in Upper Germany and the Low +Countries. Lacroix says that he produced twenty windows for the Temple +Church at Paris; and Holt attributes to him the church-windows at +Fairford, near Cirencester. + +As an architect Albert executed but few works, and only a slight +record remains to our day. He made two plans for the Archduchess +Margaret, and another for the house of her physician. Heideloff has +proved that the gallery of the Gessert house at Nuremberg was built by +Duerer, in a strange combination of geometric and Renaissance forms. + +Pirkheimer's portrait was engraved in 1524, showing a gross and heavy +face, obese to the last degree, and verifying in its physiognomy the +probability that the playful innuendoes in Duerer's Venetian letters +were well grounded. It is not easy to see how such a spirit, learned +in all the sciences of the age, and in close communion with Erasmus, +Melanchthon, and Ulrich von Hutten, could have worn such a drooping +mask of flesh. In the same year, Duerer published an engraved portrait +of Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, the supporter of Luther and +the political leader of the Reformation. The head is admirably drawn +and full of character, with firmness plainly indicated by strongly +compressed lips. + +The following letter to the Council of Nuremberg was written in the +year 1524:-- + + "Provident, Honorable, Wise, and Most Favorable Lords,--By my + works and with the help of God, I have acquired 1,000 florins + of the Rhine, and I would now willingly lay them by for my + support. Although I know that it is not the custom with your + Wisdoms to pay high interest, and that you have refused to + give one florin in twenty; yet I am moved by my necessity, by + the particularly favorable regard which your Wisdoms have + ever shown towards me, and also by the following causes, to + beg this thing of your Honors. Your Wisdoms know that I have + always been obedient, willing, and diligent in all things + done for your Wisdoms, and for the common State, and for + other persons of the Rath, and that the State has always had + my help, art, and work, whenever they were needed, and that + without payment rather than for money; for I can write with + truth, that, during the thirty years that I have had a house + in this town, I have not had 500 guldens' worth of work from + it, and what I have had has been poor and mean, and I have + not gained the fifth part for it that it was worth; but all + that I have earned, which God knows has only been by hard + toil, has been from princes, lords, and other foreign + persons. Also I have expended all my earnings from foreigners + in this town. Also your Honors doubtless know that, on + account of the many works I had done for him, the late + Emperor Maximilian, of praiseworthy memory, out of his own + imperial liberality granted me an exemption from the rates + and taxes of this town, which, however, I voluntarily gave + up, when I was spoken to about it by the Elders of the Rath, + in order to show honor to my Lords, and to maintain their + favor and uphold their customs and justice. + + "Nineteen years ago the Doge of Venice wrote to me, offering + me 200 ducats a year if I would live in that city. More + lately the Rath of Antwerp, while I remained in the Low + Countries, also made me an offer, 300 florins of Philippe a + year, and a fair mansion to live in. In both places all that + I did for the Government would have been paid over and above + the pension. All of which, out of my love for my honorable + and wise Lords, for this town, and for my Fatherland, I + refused, and chose rather to live simply, near your Wisdoms, + than to be rich and great in any other place. It is therefore + my dutiful request to your Lordships, that you will take all + these things into your favorable consideration, and accept + these thousand florins (which I could easily lay out with + other worthy people both here and elsewhere, but which I + would rather know were in the hands of your Wisdoms), and + grant me a yearly interest upon them of fifty florins, so + that I and my wife, who are daily growing old, weak, and + incapable, may have a moderate provision against want. And I + will ever do my utmost to deserve your noble Wisdoms' favor + and approbation, as heretofore." + +This touching letter shows the poverty of Duerer's savings, and his +sad feeling that he had lived as a prophet without honor in his own +country. It produced the desired effect, and brought him five per cent +on his little capital, though after his death the Council hastened to +reduce it to four per cent. + +Duerer's wide study and remarkable versatility, rivalling that of +Leonardo da Vinci, found further expression in literary work. +Camerarius states that he wrote a hundred and fifty different +treatises, showing a marked proficiency in several of the sciences. +His first work was entitled "Instruction in the Art of Mensuration," +&c., and was published in 1525 for the use of young painters. It is +composed of four books, treating of the practical use of geometrical +instruments, and the drawing of volutes, Roman letters, and winding +stairs; and is illustrated by numerous woodcuts. The fourth book +elucidates the idea of perspective, and contains pictures of an +instrument devised by the author, "which will be found particularly +useful to persons who are not sure of drawing correctly." This was not +the only invention of Duerer's; for there still exists a small model of +a gun-carriage in wood and iron, made by him, and exhibiting certain +improvements which he had designed and advocated. "The Art of +Mensuration" was a successful book, and passed through one Latin and +three German editions. + +The finest of Duerer's works in portraiture was executed in 1526, and +represents the grand old Jerome Holzschuher, one of the chief rulers +of the city, with all the strength and keenness of his heroic nature +lighting up the canvas. Enormous sums have been offered for this work; +but it is still faithfully preserved in Nuremberg, and retains its +original rich and vivid coloring. Another fine portrait, "like an +antique bust," now in the Vienna Belvedere, shows Johann Kleeberger, +the generous and charitable man who was known abroad as "the good +German." Still another portrait of this year was that of the +Burgomaster Jacob Mueffel, a well-modelled and carefully executed +likeness of one of the master's best friends. Two very famous +engravings of this date portray Erasmus of Rotterdam and Philip +Melanchthon. Erasmus is represented as a venerable scholar, sitting +at a desk, with a pen in his hand and a soft cap on his head; and +the engraving is remarkable for its admirable execution and strong +character. Still, the old philosopher was not pleased with it, and +sent to Sir Thomas More his portrait by Holbein, which, he said, "is +much more like me than the one by the famous Albert Duerer." When +Erasmus first saw the picture he said, "Oh! if I still resemble that +Erasmus, I may look out for getting married," as if it gave him too +young an appearance. + +In 1526 the wise and noble-hearted Melanchthon came to Nuremberg +to establish a Protestant Latin school, and formed a close intimacy +with the master, whose tender and dreamy spirit was so like his own. +During their constant intercourse, the artist became strengthened and +comforted in the mild and pure doctrines of the true reformation, and +was quietly yet strongly influenced to abandon even the forms of +Catholicism which still remained. Duerer published a fine engraving of +this friend of his last years on earth, showing delicately-chiselled +features, with large and tender eyes and a lofty forehead. + +Melanchthon wrote that in one of his frequent conversations with +Duerer, the artist explained the great change which his methods had +undergone, saying, "In his youth he was fond of a florid style and +great combination of colors, and that in looking at his own work he +was always delighted to find this diversity of coloring in any of his +pictures; but afterwards in his mature years he began to look more +entirely to nature, and tried to see her in her simplest form. Then he +found that this simplicity was the true perfection of art; and, not +attaining this, he did not care for his works as formerly, but often +sighed when he looked at his pictures and thought of his incapacity." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + "The Four Apostles."--Duerer's Later Literary Works.--Four Books of + Proportion.--Last Sickness and Death.--Agnes Duerer.--Duerer described + by a Friend. + + +Schlegel says that "Albert Duerer may be called the Shakespeare of +Painting;" and it is doubtless true that he filled out the narrow +capabilities of early German art with a full measure of deep and +earnest thought and powerful originality. The equal homage which was +offered to him at Venice and Antwerp, the two art-antipodes, shows how +highly he was regarded in his own day. His earlier works were executed +in the crude and angular methods of Wohlgemuth and his contemporaries; +and most of the pictures now attributed to him, often incorrectly, are +of this character. But in his later works he swung clear of these +trammelling archaisms, and produced brilliant and memorable +compositions. + +"The Four Apostles," now in the Munich Pinakothek, were Duerer's last +and noblest works, and fairly justify Pirkheimer's assurance, that if +he had lived longer the master would have done "many more wonderful, +strange, and artistic things." They are full of grand thought and +clear insight, free from exaggeration or conventionalism, perfect in +execution and harmonious simplicity, and so distinct in individuality +that it has been generally believed that the Four Temperaments are +here impersonated. On one panel are Sts. John and Peter, in life-size, +the former deeply meditating, with the Scriptures in his hand, and the +latter bending forward and earnestly reading the Holy Book. The other +panel shows the stately St. Paul, robed in white, standing before the +ardent and impassioned St. Mark. Kugler calls these panels "the first +complete work of art produced by Protestantism;" and the truth and +simplicity of the paintings prefigured the return of a pure and +incorrupt faith. + +Late in 1526, Duerer sent these pictures to the Rath of Nuremberg, with +the following letter: "Provident, Honorable, Wise, Dear Lords,--I have +been for some time past minded to present your Wisdoms with something +of my unworthy painting as a remembrance; but I have been obliged to +give this up on account of the defects of my poor work, for I knew +that I should not have been well able to maintain the same before your +Wisdoms. During this past time, however, I have painted a picture, +and bestowed more diligence upon it than upon any other painting; +therefore I esteem no one worthier than your Wisdoms to keep it as +a remembrance; on which account I present the same to you herewith, +begging you with humble diligence to accept my little present +graciously and favorably, and to be and remain my favorable and dear +Lords, as I have always hitherto found you. This, with the utmost +humility, I will sedulously endeavor to merit from your Wisdoms." + +The Rath eagerly accepted this noble gift, and hung the two panels in +the Rath-haus, sending also a handsome present of money to Duerer and +his wife. A century afterwards Maximilian of Bavaria saw and coveted +the pictures, and used bribery and threats alike to secure them. In +1627 he accomplished his purpose; and the Rath, fearful of his wrath +and dreading his power, sent the panels to Munich. + +The woodcut portrait of Duerer, dated 1527, shows the worn face of a +man of fifty-six years, whose life has been stormy and sometimes +unhappy. It is much less beautiful than the earlier pictures, for his +long flowing hair and beard have both been cut short, perhaps on +account of sickness, or in deference to the new puritan ideas. The +face is delicate and melancholy, and seems to rest under the shadow of +approaching death, which is to be met with a calm and simple faith. + +His second book, entitled "Some Instruction in the Fortification of +Cities, Castles, and Towns," appeared in 1527, and was dedicated to +Ferdinand I., and adorned with several woodcuts. In this the artist +showed the same familiarity with the principles of defensive works +as his great contemporaries Leonardo da Vinci and Michael Angelo +had done. Much attention is paid to the proper sheltering of heavy +artillery from hostile shot; and the plans of the towers and bastions +about Nuremberg, which were built after Duerer's death, were suggested +in this work. A large contemporary woodcut by the master shows the +siege of a city, with cannon playing from the bastions, and the +garrison making a sortie against the enemy. + +The celebrated "Four Books of Human Proportion" was Duerer's greatest +literary work, and was completed about this time, having been begun +in 1523. Its preparation was suggested by Pirkheimer, to whom it was +dedicated, and who published it after the author's death, with a long +Latin elegy on him. Great labor was bestowed on this work, and many of +the original sketches and notes are still preserved. The first and +second books show the correct proportions of the human body and its +members, according to scale, dividing the body into seven parts, each +of which has the same measurement as the head, and then considering +it in eighths. The proportions of children are also treated of; and +the dogma is formulated, that the woman should be one-eighteenth +shorter than the man. The third book is devoted to transposing or +changing these proportions, and contains examples of distorted and +unsymmetrical figures; and the fourth book treats of foreshortening, +and shows the human body in motion. In his preface he says: "Let no +one think that I am presumptuous enough to imagine that I have written +a wonderful book, or seek to raise myself above others. This be far +from me! for I know well that but small and mediocre understanding +and art can be found in the following work." + +The high appreciation in which this book was held appears from the +fact that it passed through several German editions, besides three +Latin, two Italian, two French, Portuguese, Dutch, and English +editions. Most of the original MS. is now in the British Museum. + +Among Duerer's other works were treatises on Civic Architecture, Music, +the Art of Fencing, Landscape-Painting, Colors, Painting, and the +Proportions of the Horse. + +But the year 1527 was nearly barren of new art-works; for the master's +hand was losing its power, and his busy brain had grown weary. His +constitution was slowly yielding before the fatal advances of a +wasting disease, possibly the low fever which he had contracted in +Zealand, or it may have been an affection of the lungs. In the latter +days he made a memorandum: "Regarding the belongings I have amassed by +my own handiwork, I have not had a great chance to become rich, and +have had plenty of losses; having lent without being repaid, and my +work-people have not reckoned with me; also my agent at Rome died, +after using up my property. Half of this loss was thirteen years ago, +and I have blamed myself for losses contracted at Venice. Still we +have good house-furnishing, clothing, costly things as earthenware +[maiolica], professional fittings-up, bed-furnishings, chests, and +cabinets; and my stock of colors is worth 100 guldens." + +The last design of the master was a drawing on gray paper, showing +Christ on the Cross. When this was all completed except the face of +the Divine sufferer, the artist was summoned by Death, and ascended to +behold in glory the features which he had so often portrayed under the +thorns. + +A violent attack of his chronic disease prostrated him so far that he +was unable to rally; and after a brief illness he passed gently away, +on the 6th of April, 1528. It was the anniversary of the day on which +Raphael died, eight years before. His friends were startled and +grief-stricken at his sudden death, which came so unexpectedly that +even Pirkheimer was absent from the city. It was long supposed that he +died of the plague, on the evidence of a portrait-drawing of himself, +showing him pointing to a discolored plague-spot on his side, and +inscribed, "Where my fingers point, there I suffer." It was said that +this sketch was for the information of his doctor, who dared not visit +the pestilence-stricken sick-chamber. But this hypothesis is no longer +considered tenable. + +The remains of the master were buried in the lot of his father-in-law, +Hans Frey, at the Cemetery of St. John, beyond the walls; and his +monument bore Pirkheimer's simple epitaph: "ME. AL. DU. QUICQUID +ALBERTI DURERI MORTALE FUIT, SUB HOC CONDITUR TUMULO. EMIGRAVIT VIII +IDUS APRILIS, MDXXVIII. A.D." + +On Easter Sunday, 1828, the third centenary of his death, a great +procession of artists and scholars from all parts of Germany moved in +solemn state from Nuremberg to the grave of Duerer, where they sang +hymns. + + In the valley of the Pegnitz, where across broad meadowlands + Rise the blue Franconian mountains, Nuremberg the + ancient stands. + + Quaint old town of toil and traffic, quaint old town of + art and song, + Memories haunt thy pointed gables, like the rooks that + round them throng. + + Memories of the Middle Ages, when the emperors rough + and bold + Had their dwelling in thy castle, time-defying, centuries + old; + + And thy brave and thrifty burghers boasted, in their + uncouth rhyme, + That their great imperial city stretched its hand through + every clime. + + In the courtyard of the castle, bound with many an iron + band, + Stands the mighty linden planted by Queen Cunigunde's + hand; + + On the square the oriel window, where in old heroic days + Sat the poet Melchior singing Kaiser Maximilian's praise. + + Everywhere I see around me rise the wondrous world of + Art, + Fountains wrought with richest sculpture standing in the + common mart; + + And above cathedral doorways, saints and bishops carved in + stone, + By a former age commissioned as apostles to our own. + + In the church of sainted Sebald sleeps enshrined his holy + dust, + And in bronze the Twelve Apostles guard from age to age + their trust: + + In the church of sainted Lawrence stands a pix of sculpture + rare, + Like the foamy sheaf of fountains, rising through the painted + air. + + Here, when Art was still religion, with a simple, reverent + heart, + Lived and labored Albrecht Duerer, the Evangelist of Art; + + Hence in silence and in sorrow, toiling still with busy hand, + Like an emigrant he wandered, seeking for the Better Land. + + _Emigravit_ is the inscription on the tombstone where he + lies: + Dead he is not, but departed, for the artist never dies. + + LONGFELLOW. + +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 Duerer 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 Duerer'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 Duerer: "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 Duerer'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 Duerer 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 Duerer'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 Duerer's +paintings; and Andrea del Sarto received many direct suggestions from +his works. + + "It is very surprising in regard to that man, that in a + rude and barbarous age he was the first of the Germans who + not only arrived at an exact imitation of nature, but has + likewise left no second; being so absolute a master of it in + all its parts,--in etching, engraving, statuary, + architecture, optics, symmetry, and the rest,--that he had + no equal except Michael Angelo Buonarotti, his contemporary + and rival; and he left behind him such works as were too + much for the life of one man."--JOHN ANDREAS. + +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 [Greek: Tetragonon], 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 DUeRER'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,_--Pieta; Ecce Homo. +_Rath-Haus_,--Emperor Sigismund(?); Charlemagne(?). + +MUNICH PINAKOTHEK.--Baumgaertner Altar-piece, 1513; Suicide of +Lucretia, 1518; Albert Duerer, 1500; Oswald Krell, 1499; Michael +Wohlgemuth, 1516; Albert Duerer 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; Pieta(?); 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. _Staedel +Institute,_--Catherine Fuerleger; Albert Duerer the Elder. + +CASSEL.--_Friedrich Museum,_--The Passion. _Bellevue,_--Erasmus of +Rotterdam. + +POMMERSFELDEN.--Jacob Mueffel. + +LUSTSCHENA (Baron Speck).--A Young Lady. + +ASCHAFFENBURG.--Albert Duerer. + +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. + +_Beloeil_ (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; Duerer's Father, 1490; Apostle Philip, 1516; St. James the Great, +1516; Albert Duerer, 1498; Ecce Homo (?); Nativity (?); Pieta (?). +_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 Duerer, 1498; Duerer's Father; Adam and Eve. +_Marquis of Salamanca,_--Altar-piece, a Passion scene. + + +FRANCE. + +_Besancon 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,_--Duerer's Father. _Mr. Wynn Ellis, London,_--Catherine +Fuerleger; 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 Duerer'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 + DUeRER'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 +Varnbuehler, 1522; Albert Duerer, 1527. + +_Heraldic Subjects._--The Beham Arms; the Duerer 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 Coeli Septentrionalis; Imagines +Coeli 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 Duerer," and ranked as "doubtful." Many of +these are held to be authentic by one or more of the three critical +authorities on Duerer'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 Duerer. + + +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. + + + _Adam and Eve,_ 45, 57. + _Adoration of the Kings,_ 45. + _Adoration of the Trinity,_ 62, 68. + Aix-la-Chapelle, 105. + Aldegrever, 120. + Altdorfer, 120. + Antwerp, 97, 106, 117, 126. + -- Cathedral, 99, 110. + Architectural Works, 123. + Art of Mensuration, 127. + Augsburg, 91. + + Bamberg, 44, 96. + Basle, 26. + Baumgaertner, 14, 39, 52, 77, 78. + Behaim, Martin, 12. + Beham, 120. + Beheim, Hans, 11. + Bellini, Giovanni, 48, 50. + Bergen-op-Zoom, 107, 109. + Bernard van Orley, 100. + Binck, 120. + _Birth of St. John,_ 66. + Bois-le-Duc, 106. + Bruges, 110. + Brussels, 100. + Bullman, 12. + + _Calvary,_ 45. + Camerarius, 14, 145. + Carvings, 57, 66. + Celtes, Conrad, 13. + Chelidonius, 13, 70, 71. + Coat-of-Arms, 49, 75. + Colmar, 23, 26. + Cologne, 96, 106, 117. + Colvin, Sidney, 34. + Confirmatia, The, 106. + _Coronation of the Virgin,_ 61. + + Danger at Sea, 107. + Death of Parents, 40, 83. + _Death of the Virgin,_ 90. + Delayed Pensions, 87, 92. + Denmark's King, 116. + Drawings, 42. + Duerer, Albert, the Elder, 15, 20, 23, 40. + -- Agnes, 28, 52, 54, 142. + -- Andreas, 16, 41, 53, 68. + -- Anthony, 15. + -- Barbara, 15, 41, 83. + -- Hans, 41, 51, 69. + -- Nicholas, 96. + Duerer's House, 63. + -- Marriage, 28. + -- Poetry, 64. + -- Portraits, 27, 36, 39, 105, 134. + + Early Drawings, 19. + Engravings, 31, 60. + Erasmus, 99, 110, 114, 129. + Etchings, 86. + Eytas, 15, 79. + + Fever, The, 112. + Flemish Feasts, 97, 109, 111. + Flemish Wealth, 95. + Fortifications, Treatise on, 134. + _Four Apostles, The,_ 131. + Francia, 55. + Frey Family, 29, 123. + + Ghent, 111. + Glass-Painting, 123. + _Great Column, The,_ 88. + _Great Passion, The,_ 69. + _Green Passion, The,_ 42. + Grunewald, 121. + + Haller Family, 15. + Heller, Jacob, 58, 59, 96. + _Holzschuher,_ 128. + Human Proportions, 135. + + Imhoff Collection, The, 43. + Inventions, 128. + + Karl, Eucharius, 39, 52. + _Knight, Death, etc.,_ 76. + Koberger, 9, 17. + Kornelisz, 12. + Kraft, 11. + + Landaeuer, 62. + Letters to the Rath, 124, 132. + _Life of the Virgin,_ 71. + Lindenast, 11. + Literary Work, 127. + _Little Crucifixion, The,_ 78. + Little Masters, 120. + _Little Passion, The,_ 70. + + Mantegna, 24, 56. + Marc Antonio, 71. + Margaret, Archduchess, 94, 100, 105, 115. + Martin Luther, 113. + _Martyrdom, The,_ 59. + Maximilian, Emperor, 74, 76, 89, 91, 93, 122. + Mechlin, 100, 115. + Melanchthon, 75, 129. + _Melencolia, The,_ 82. + Middleburg, 107, 108. + + Netherland Journey, 94. + Nuremberg, 7, 118, 139. + + _Passion, The Great,_ 69. + -- _The Green,_ 42. + -- _The Little,_ 70. + -- _Song,_ 65. + -- _in Copper,_ 74. + Patenir, 98, 112. + Pensz, George, 120, 121. + Perugino, 24. + Piratical Engravers, 69, 71. + Pirkheimer, 17, 30, 39, 43, 44, 48, 64, 110, 119, 124, 135, 137, 141. + Prayer-Book, Max's, 88. + Procession, The, 103. + + Raphael, 56, 85, 105, 144. + Regiomontanus, 10. + _Rose-Garlands, Feast of,_ 53, 54. + Ruskin Quoted, 46, 56. + + Sachs, Hans, 14. + _St. Anthony,_ 93. + _St. Eustachius,_ 79. + _St. Jerome,_ 81. + Schongauer, 23. + Silver-Work, 20. + Sketch-Books, 44. + Spengler, 39, 65, 92, 119. + Stein, 47. + Stoss, Veit, 11. + Strasbourg, 26. + + Teacher, The (Poem), 65. + Tomasin, 98, 100, 109. + _Triumphal Arch,_ 75, 88, 92. + _Triumphal Car,_ 121. + + Van Leyden, Lucas, 115. + Vasari Quoted, 72. + Venetian Journey, 47. + Venice, 47, 56, 126. + Vincidore, 105. + Vischer, Peter, 11. + Von Culmbach, 120. + + Walch, Jacob, 13, 115. + Wander-jahre, The, 25, 50. + Water-Marks, 34. + Wohlgemuth, 12, 21, 51, 90. + Woodcuts, 37. + + Zealand, Journey to, 107. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: + +Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors; 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