Albrecht Durer and his influence on German Renaissance

Albert Durer (1471-1528) was one of the most influential artists in German Renaissance. He was specialized in woodcut printmaking and engraving. In this blog, we will first discuss Albert Durer's career, then we will discuss his contemporaries artist Raphael (1483-1520) from Italy and  Matthias Grunewald (1470-1528) from German. Lastly, we will summarize how Albert Durer impact the Northern Renaissance. Like Cunningham said: Durer was strongly influenced by Italian artistic styles and , through Italian models, by Classical ideas. (Cunningham 335). 

                                      Albrecht Durer (1471-1528), Self-Portrait, c. 1500

Durer visited Italy twice and he learned the new technique of linear perspective there. Also, Italian Renaissance humanism had impacted on Durer. He developed his idea of woodcuts and engraving. Cunningham stated that: In 1498, Durer published a series of fifteen woodcuts illustrating the Revelation of Saint John, know as the Apocalypse series. Woodcut engraving are produced by drawing a design on a block of soft wood, then cutting away the surrounding wood to leave the lines of the drawing standing in relief. The block of wood can then be coated with ink and used to print an impression on paper. (Cunningham 336). In his woodcut print, we can see he used linear techniques on his work of arts. In his later year, he devoted himself to engraving and to writing theoretical works on art. During this period, he created his engraving Knight, death, and the devil. c. 1513 (see below). Per Cunningham, by the end of his life, Durer was acknowledged as one of the great figures of his time. At the time of his death, Durer was working on Libri IV De Humani Corporis Proportionibus. This work, aimed to accomplish for art what Vesalius's did for medicine. It was inspired by two of the great intellectual concerns of the Renaissance: a return to Classical ideals of beauty and proportion, and a new quest for knowledge and scientific precision. (Cunningham 337)

                      Albrecht Durer, Knight, Death, and the Devil, c. 1513, engraving

Other contemporaries artists such as Raphael (1483-1520) has a huge impact on Durer. Durer was a collector and he had communication with multiple Italian artists like Raphael, Giovanni Bellini, and Leonardo da Vinci. In article journal "The 2010 Josephine Waters Bennett Lecture: Albrecht Durer as Collector." written by Jeffery Chipps, he stated that Durer frequently annotated works of art in his possession. Here he proudly registers that Raphael, artist to Pope Leo X (r. 1513-21), sent him a virtuoso sketch to display his skill. Raphael presented Durer with the perfect gift, since in the 1510s the Nuremberg master was immersed in his theoretical studies of the human body and its proportions (Chipps 4).  Durer' expresses his admiration for creative hand, that is , for the master who in a few strokes could say much more than another artist who might labor a year. By adding the inscription, which was likely contemporary with the receipt of the drawing, the artist goes beyond mere admiration. Durer consciously establishes his direct link and creative kinship with Raphael. Since he knows who authored and sent the drawing to him. Durer intentionally documents this story for others. audiences both contemporary and future. (Chipps 6)

Another contemporaries artists Matthias Grunewald (1470-1528), he had totally different style compared to Durer. However, both Grunewald and Durer represented the high point in German Renaissance Art. Per cunning: Grunewald never visited Italy and showed no interest in the new styles developed there. The Renaissance concept of ideal beauty and the humanist interest in Classical antiquity left him unmoved. Instead, he turned repeatedly to the traditional religious themes of German medieval art, bringing to them a passionate, almost violent intensity that must at least in part reflect the religious heart searching of the times. (Cunningham 337). His style was more focus on religious subjects. 

                                         Matthias Grunewald, Resurrection, c. 1515

In conclusion, Italian humanism and linear perspective had impact on Durer's artworks. As a friend of Raphael, Durer is an advocate of classical ideals of beauty and proportion. However, his contemporary artist Grunewald, who never interested in Italy Renaissance, focused on religious subject with medieval arts. The battle between the humanism and religious sparks German artists to create more arts. Like Cunningham said: It might even be said that the intellectual and religious battles of the times stimulated German art to its highest achievements. (Cunningham 335). 

                                                              Albrecht Durer engraving 

work cite:

Cunningham, Lawrence S, Culture and Values A Survey of the Humanities, Cengage Learning; 8th Edition (February 15, 2013)

Smith, Jeffrey Chipps. “The 2010 Josephine Waters Bennett Lecture: Albrecht Dürer as Collector.” Renaissance Quarterly, vol. 64, no. 1, 2011, pp. 1–49. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/660367. Accessed 16 Oct. 2020.