Albrecht Durer

It is always very difficult to assess, construe and to write critically about a person whose works of art will never be forgotten and whose name had been written to the history of art as genius. The most we could do is to take a delight in looking at these works and moreover, try to understand what the author of these masterpieces wanted to translate to the world. Albrecht Dürer is one of the greatest and most influential Renaissance artists. His creation was influenced by his father who taught him craft of goldsmith; authorities like M.Wolgemut, H. Pleydenwurff and M.Schongauer; journeys to Italy and Netherlands where he met artists like Pollaiuolo and Mantegna, Barbari and Bellini, Lorenzo di Credi and Raphael, thinkers like Alberti and Leonardo da Vinci. Albrecht Dürer as a person was good, perfectionist, with a sense of humour and like E.Panofsky described: “Of rather delicate health, handsome and more than a little vain of his good looks, he was the most loyal of citizens, the most faithful of Christians, the most conscientious of craftsmen and the best of friends”[1]. Albrecht Dürer was unrivalled in making woodcuts and engravings (he made ninety-five copperplate engravings and more than two hundreds woodcuts). His technique of making it was exceptional, like J. B. Shaw said “Dürer’s method of painting does not sound like the method of a painter of the Renaissance. It is rather the method of an illuminator, painting a miniature on a very large scale”[2]. First of all, if we want to compare the work of A. Dürer in the woodcuts and engravings, we need to discuss about different processes of making them. J. B. Shaw explained how engraving is made: “The method, is what called an intaglio method – that is, one in which the design is printed from lines that are incised in the surface of the plate. In line-engraving, these lines are incised directly onto the copperplate by the artist, using a burin which he pushes in front of the hand, turning the

Bibliography: • Erwin Panofsky, The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer, (Princeton university press, Princeton and Oxford, 2005). • Giulia Bartrum, Albrecht Dürer and his Legacy: The The Graphic Work of a Renaissance Artist, (Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2002). • M. Leveley, P. Skrine, J. B. Shaw, A. Smith, K. Andrews, H. Ley, U. Finkie, Essays on Dürer, (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1973). Illustrations: • Figure 1: Albrecht Dürer, Coat of Arms with a Skull, 1503, engraving, London, British Museum. • Figure 2: Albrecht Dürer, Samson and the Lion, c. 1497-8, woodcut, London, British Museum. • Figure 3: Albrecht Dürer, The Rhinoceros, 1515, woodcut, London, British Museum. • Figure 4: Albrecht Dürer, Adam and Eve, 1504, engraving, London, British Museum. ----------------------- [1] Erwin Panofsky, The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer, (Princeton university press, Princeton and Oxford, 2005) p10. [2] M. Leveley, P. Skrine, J. B. Shaw, A. Smith, K. Andrews, H. Ley, U. Finkie, Essays on Dürer, (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1973) p43. [3] M. Leveley, P. Skrine, J. B. Shaw, A. Smith, K. Andrews, H. Ley, U. Finkie, Essays on Dürer, (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1973) p44. [4] M. Leveley, P. Skrine, J. B. Shaw, A. Smith, K. Andrews, H. Ley, U. Finkie, Essays on Dürer, (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1973) p48. [5] Erwin Panofsky, The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer, (Princeton university press, Princeton and Oxford, 2005) p49. [6] Erwin Panofsky, The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer, (Princeton university press, Princeton and Oxford, 2005) p63. [7] Erwin Panofsky, The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer, (Princeton university press, Princeton and Oxford, 2005) p47. [8] Erwin Panofsky, The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer, (Princeton university press, Princeton and Oxford, 2005) p63. [9] Erwin Panofsky, The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer, (Princeton university press, Princeton and Oxford, 2005) p48. [10] Erwin Panofsky, The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer, (Princeton university press, Princeton and Oxford, 2005) p48. [11] M. Leveley, P. Skrine, J. B. Shaw, A. Smith, K. Andrews, H. Ley, U. Finkie, Essays on Dürer, (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1973) p47. [12] Erwin Panofsky, The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer, (Princeton university press, Princeton and Oxford, 2005) p64. [13] M. Leveley, P. Skrine, J. B. Shaw, A. Smith, K. Andrews, H. Ley, U. Finkie, Essays on Dürer, (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1973) p52. [14] M. Leveley, P. Skrine, J. B. Shaw, A. Smith, K. Andrews, H. Ley, U. Finkie, Essays on Dürer, (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1973) p52. [15] Erwin Panofsky, The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer, (Princeton university press, Princeton and Oxford, 2005) p48. [16] M. Leveley, P. Skrine, J. B. Shaw, A. Smith, K. Andrews, H. Ley, U. Finkie, Essays on Dürer, (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1973) p59. [17] Erwin Panofsky, The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer, (Princeton university press, Princeton and Oxford, 2005) p11. [18] Giulia Bartrum, Albrecht Dürer and his Legacy: The The Graphic Work of a Renaissance Artist, (Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2002) p223.