A History of European Art

Lecture 23: Albrecht Dürer and German Renaissance Art

Catholic paintings. The inscriptions at the bottom of the pictures are directed

against false prophets and deniers of Christ. These apparently included the

extreme forces of the Reformation who, in Dürer’s view, threatened the

success of the Reformation and the foundations of Christian belief. Dürer

was a conservative Reformer, and he seems to have intended these four

“apostles” as a warning, as witnesses of the true word of the Bible. Ŷ

Albrecht Dürer:

Adam and Eve (Fall of Man), 1504, engraving, 9 ¾ x 7 ½”

(22.86 x 17.78 cm), Victoria and Albert Museum, London,

Great Britain.

All Saints Altarpiece (Adoration of the Holy Trinity), 1511, oil on

panel, 53 ¼ x 48 ½” (135 x 123.4 cm), Kunsthistorisches Museum,

Vienna, Austria.

Four Apostles, 1526, oil on panel, 7’ 1” x 2’ 6” (2.16 x .76 m), Alte

Pinakothek, Munich, Germany.

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, 1498, woodcut, 15 ½ x 11”

(38.1 x 27.94 cm), British Museum, London, Great Britain.

Self-Portrait, 1500, oil on panel, 26 ½ x 19 ¼” (67 x 49 cm), Alte

Pinakothek, Munich, Germany.

St. Jerome in His Study, 1514, engraving, 9 ½ x 7 ¼” (22.86 x 17.78 cm),

Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Martin Schongauer:

Temptation of St. Anthony, 1480s, engraving, 12 ¼ x 9”

(30.48 x 22.86 cm), Fondazione Magnani-Rocca, Parma, Italy.

Works Discussed