European Drawings - 1, Catalogue of the Collections

ALBRECHT DURER (German, 1471-1528). Stag Beetle, 1505

(monogram and date). Watercolor and gouache (pen and

brown ink). H: 14.2 cm (s^9 /6 in.) ;W: 11.4 cm (4^ in.). Malibu,

J. Paul Getty Museum 84.00.214.

ALBRECHT DURER. Head of a Man, 1505 (date). Pen and brown

ink. H: 20.8 cm (85/16in.);W: 14.8 cm (57/8in.). London, British

Museum Sloane 5218/31. Photo courtesy Trustees of the Brit-

ish Museum.

ALBRECHT DURER. Head of 'an Angel, 1506 (monogram). Brush

and gray ink and white gouache heightening on blue paper

(brush and black ink). H: 27 cm (lOVs in.); W: 20.8 cm

(8Vi6 in.). Vienna, Graphische Sammlung Albertina 3099,

D 78. Photo courtesy Fonds Albertina.

ALBRECHT DURER. Saint Dominic, 1506 (monogram). Brush

and gray ink and white gouache heightening on blue paper

(brush and gray ink). H: 41.6 cm (i6^3 /s in.); W: 28.8 cm

(iiVs in.). Vienna, Graphische Sammlung Albertina 3101,

D 70. Photo courtesy Fonds Albertina.

mentioned but also in the relatively free calligraphic ef-

fect of the handwriting. And, as was first noticed by

Winkler (1937, vol. 2, no. 288), this inscription must be

autograph, since it and the inscription on the unquestion-

ably authentic drawing Smiling Windisch Peasant Woman,

also in the British Museum (inv. 1930-3-24-1; Strauss

1974, vol. 2, no. 1505/27), are inextricably related in their

use of comparable flourishes. This similarity between

the date on the Stag Beetle and that of the Head of a Man

in the British Museum was pointed out by F. Anzelew-

sky, who considers it sufficiently definitive as a basis for

attributing the Stag Beetle to Diirer.^3 Koreny's suggestion

concerning the date, on the other hand, would inevitably

lead to an attribution of the Stag Beetle to Baldung, an

idea he has raised in conversation with the present writer

since the publication of the 1985 Albertina catalogue. In

addition to being based on a demonstrably mistaken

analysis of handwriting, this hypothesis is entirely lack-

ing in a historical, stylistic, or documentary basis.

In the same vein, removal of the later gold border

has made it possible to study the monogram on the Mu-

seum's sheet. Examination reveals a clear relationship be-

tween it and other monograms on absolutely unques-

tioned drawings by Diirer. Two specific observations

should suffice here. The form of the letters, their relative

placement, the horizontal strokes at the base of the A, and

the small hooks at its top, both left and right, can all be

seen in the monogram drawn on the Head of an Angel in

the Albertina (inv. 3099 D 78; Strauss 1974, vol. 2, no.

1506/19). Very similar features and a closely comparable

form of calligraphy occur in the monogram on a sheet

showing Saint Dominic, also in the Albertina (inv. 3101,

D 70; Strauss 1974, vol. 2, no. 1506/12). Together with

the evidence provided by the date, these similarities con-

stitute unassailable objective proof of authorship.^4

Stylistically, the Stag Beetle differs mainly from

other Diirer animal studies in its more precise manner of

modeling, especially along the back of the insect. This is

to be expected since in reality the texture is less differ-

entiated than that of a hare's fur or a roller's wing. The

Museum's drawing also possesses a number of common

features of technique such as the manner of capturing the

shadow cast by the insect and the more varied textural

effect overall than that found in copies by Hoffmann and

Hoefnagel. Conceptually, the drawing combines the no-

tion of representation with one of intellectual illusion,

looking back to old anecdotes about Giotto and ancient

painters composing deceptively real insects, and ahead to

the scientific naturalism of the future. It is for this reason

that the drawing had so great an influence in its century

and has proven so affecting throughout its history.^5

1. M. A. Fischer, "DieNatur als Vorbildund Abbild," lecture

delivered at a symposium entitled "Albrecht Diirer und die

Tier- und Pflanzenstudien der Renaissance," Vienna, June 7 -

10, 1985. Dr. Fischer kindly reiterated his views in a letter to the

author, December 20, 1986.

2. Conversation with the author, 1986.

3. Letter to the author, September 21, 1985.


4. The authenticity of the monogram has been confirmed by
   H. Mielke (letter to the author, June 2, 1986).
   5. Since the exhibition, F. Anzelewsky (letter of September 21,
   1985), K. Oberhuber (letter of September 6 , 1985), and C.
   White (letter of April 24, 1985) have informed the author that
   they continue to support the attribution of the Stag Beetle to
   Diirer.

290 GERMAN SCHOOL • DURER