drawings made available to him through his friend
Willibald PIRCKHEIMER. Dürer’s engraved Small Horse
(1505) utilizes Leonardo’s canon of equine proportions.
Between 1505 and 1507 Dürer was based in Venice
where he worked upon the altarpiece of The Madonna of
the Rosegarlands (Budapest) for German merchants resi-
dent in the city. He wrote an account of his stay in the
form of letters to Pirckheimer. Dürer was on good terms
with the ageing Bellini, although he was ostracized by
other Venetian artists, who presumably feared him as a
competitor. Although painted after his return to Germany,
his lost Heller altarpiece (1509) indicated that Dürer en-
countered the works of RAPHAELand Filippino LIPPIdur-
ing this visit to Italy. Magnificent preparatory drawings for
the Heller altarpiece survive, one of which, Praying Hands
(Vienna), has become a popular symbol of faith through-
out Christendom. Dürer’s last major altarpiece was the
Vienna Adoration of the Trinity (1511), the Italianate frame
of which survives in Nuremberg. Thereafter, both artist
and city turned increasingly towards Lutheranism and the
market for large-scale religious works was considerably
reduced.
Although Dürer had practiced the engraver’s art with
consummate skill since his youth, his finest engravings
are the “Three Master Prints” of 1513–14: The Knight,
Death, and the Devil, St. Jerome in his Study, and Melancho-
lia I (see MELANCHOLIA). Each displays Dürer’s remarkable
ability to render light and texture, which caused Erasmus
to dub him “the Apelles of the Black Lines.” From 1512
onwards Dürer became increasingly involved with the
decorative printing projects of Emperor Maximilian I,
such as the Triumphal Arch and Triumphal Procession
woodcut series. His 1520–21 visit to the Netherlands was
ostensibly to ensure renewal of his imperial pension by
the newly crowned CHARLES V. Dürer’s diary of the visit
and numerous drawings which he made in the Nether-
lands provide a detailed account of the trip. While there
he made the acquaintance of several important painters,
was enthralled by Aztec treasures recently brought from
Mexico, and acquired a set of prints after Raphael, with
whom he had previously exchanged drawings.
During his last years Dürer painted some of his finest
small portraits, including those of Jacob Muffel and
Hieronymus Holzschuher (both 1526; Berlin). From the
same year dates his last large painting, the Munich Four
Apostles diptych, which has a distinctly Lutheran iconog-
raphy. Since 1512 he had been increasingly drawn towards
theoretical studies, which culminated in the publication of
his three illustrated books on geometry (1525), fortifica-
tion (1527), and human proportions (1528). Dürer’s pub-
lications, prints, and students, the last including
ALDEGREVER, BALDUNG, and KULMBACH, broadcast his in-
fluence throughout Europe. The most significant northern
artist of the Renaissance, he was also probably the greatest
print maker and the most important German artist of all
time.
Further reading: Fedja Anzelewsky, Dürer: His Life
and Art, transl. Heide Grieve (London: G. Fraser, 1982);
Giulia Bartrum (ed.), Albrecht Dürer and his Legacy (Lon-
don: British Museum, 2002); Karl A. Knappe (ed.), Dürer:
The Complete Engravings, Etchings and Woodcuts (London:
Thames & Hudson, 1965); Erwin Panofsky, The Life and
Art of Albrecht Dürer (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Univer-
sity Press, 4th ed. 1955; repr. 1971); Victoria Salley (ed.),
Nature’s Artist: Plants and Animals by Albrecht Dürer (Mu-
nich, Germany and New York: Prestel, 2003).Dutch East India Company (Dutch Vereenigde Oost-
indische Compagnie, VOC) An amalgamation of over 60
rival trading companies which was granted a charter by
the Netherlands states general in 1602. Formed to regu-
late and protect Dutch trade in the Far East, the company
enjoyed considerable privileges, which included the
power to make treaties and establish colonies, the right to
maintain armed forces, a trade monopoly, and tax exemp-115522 DDuuttcchh EEaasstt IInnddiiaa CCoommppaannyyAlbrecht DürerSelf-portrait in oils on a wood panel (1500;
Alte Pinakothek, Munich).The image bears a striking
resemblance to contemporary depictions of Christ, a fact that
has provoked much discussion.
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