The Wierix family , sometimes seen in alternative spellings such as Wiericx , were a Flemish family of artists who distinguished themselves as printmakers and draughtsmen in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. They were active in Antwerp and Brussels .
119-577: The first generation of engravers consisted of the three sons of the little-known painter and cabinet maker Anton Wierix I : Anton II's son, Anton III Wierix (1596–1624), completes the engraver members of the family, although his early death prevented him from producing a large oeuvre. All were highly productive, with 2,333 prints catalogued between them, the largest number by Johannes. The Wierix family members were known for their attention to detail and superb technique. Johannes and Hieronymus appear to have begun training together, and although Hieronymus
238-876: A vernacular , craftsmen's language. For example, Schneckenlinie ("snail-line") was his term for a spiral form. Thus, Dürer contributed to the expansion in German prose which Luther had begun with his translation of the Bible . Dürer's work on geometry is called the Four Books on Measurement ( Underweysung der Messung mit dem Zirckel und Richtscheyt or Instructions for Measuring with Compass and Ruler ). The first book focuses on linear geometry. Dürer's geometric constructions include helices , conchoids and epicycloids . He also draws on Apollonius , and Johannes Werner 's Libellus super viginti duobus elementis conicis of 1522. The second book moves onto two-dimensional geometry, i.e.
357-484: A goldsmith, he showed such a precocious talent in drawing that he was allowed to start as an apprentice to Michael Wolgemut at the age of fifteen in 1486. A self-portrait, a drawing in silverpoint , is dated 1484 ( Albertina, Vienna ) "when I was a child", as his later inscription says. The drawing is one of the earliest surviving children's drawings of any kind, and, as Dürer's Opus One, has helped define his oeuvre as deriving from, and always linked to, himself. Wolgemut
476-408: A great number of other brilliant artists and scholars of the time who became his friends, like Johannes Stabius , Konrad Peutinger , Conrad Celtes , and Hans Tscherte (an imperial architect). Dürer manifested a strong pride in his ability, as a prince of his profession. One day, the emperor, trying to show Dürer an idea, tried to sketch with the charcoal himself, but always broke it. Dürer took
595-495: A highly detailed landscape background and animals. His landscapes of this period, such as Pond in the Woods and Willow Mill , are quite different from his earlier watercolours. There is a much greater emphasis on capturing atmosphere, rather than depicting topography. He made a number of Madonnas , single religious figures, and small scenes with comic peasant figures. Prints are highly portable and these works made Dürer famous throughout
714-505: A large stock of prints with him and wrote in his diary to whom he gave, exchanged or sold them, and for how much. This provides rare information of the monetary value placed on prints at this time. Unlike paintings, their sale was very rarely documented. While providing valuable documentary evidence, Dürer's Netherlandish diary also reveals that the trip was not a profitable one. For example, Dürer offered his last portrait of Maximilian to his daughter, Margaret of Austria , but eventually traded
833-438: A lifelong preoccupation. A series of extant drawings show Dürer's experiments in human proportion, leading to the famous engraving of Adam and Eve (1504), which shows his subtlety while using the burin in the texturing of flesh surfaces. This is the only existing engraving signed with his full name. Dürer created large numbers of preparatory drawings, especially for his paintings and engravings, and many survive, most famously
952-498: A mid-tone throughout the print to which the highlights and shadows can be contrasted. Other works from this period include the thirty-seven Little Passion woodcuts, first published in 1511, and a set of fifteen small engravings on the same theme in 1512. Complaining that painting did not make enough money to justify the time spent when compared to his prints, he produced no paintings from 1513 to 1516. In 1513 and 1514 Dürer created his three most famous engravings : Knight, Death and
1071-558: A miserly shrew with a bitter tongue, who helped cause Dürer's death at a young age. It has been hypothesized by many scholars that Albrecht was bisexual or homosexual, due to the recurrence of allegedly homoerotic themes in some of his works (e.g. The Men's Bath ), and the nature of his correspondence with close friends. Within three months of his marriage, Dürer left for Italy, alone, perhaps stimulated by an outbreak of plague in Nuremberg. He made watercolour sketches as he traveled over
1190-468: A painter, trained under the older Albrecht. The other surviving brother, Endres Dürer (1484–1555), took over their father's business and was a master goldsmith. The German name "Dürer" is a translation from the Hungarian, "Ajtósi". Initially, it was "Türer", meaning doormaker, which is "ajtós" in Hungarian (from "ajtó", meaning door). A door is featured in the coat-of-arms the family acquired. Albrecht Dürer
1309-684: A par with the 39 books found in the Masoretic Text . This reaffirmed the previous Council of Rome and Synods of Carthage (both held in the 4th century AD), which had affirmed the Deuterocanon as scripture. The council also commissioned the Roman Catechism , which served as authoritative Church teaching until the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992). While the traditional fundamentals of
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#17328633173791428-416: A peasant any day, but he could not make an artist like Dürer out of a noble. This story and a 1849 painting depicting it by August Siegert [ de ] have become relevant recently. This nineteenth-century painting shows Dürer painting a mural at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna . Apparently, this reflects a seventeenth-century "artists' legend" about the previously mentioned encounter (in which
1547-476: A portrait of him with great care and engrave him on a copper plate to create a lasting memorial of the Christian man who helped me overcome so many difficulties." In a letter to Nicholas Kratzer in 1524, Dürer wrote, "because of our Christian faith we have to stand in scorn and danger, for we are reviled and called heretics". Most tellingly, Pirckheimer wrote in a letter to Johann Tscherte in 1530: "I confess that in
1666-522: A printer and publisher in the year of Dürer's birth. He became the most successful publisher in Germany, eventually owning twenty-four printing-presses and a number of offices in Germany and abroad. Koberger's most famous publication was the Nuremberg Chronicle , published in 1493 in German and Latin editions. It contained an unprecedented 1,809 woodcut illustrations (albeit with many repeated uses of
1785-444: A relationship and cooperation with the court astronomer Johannes Stabius . Stabius also often acted as Dürer's and Maximilian's go-between for their financial problems. In 1515 Dürer and Stabius created the first world map projected on a solid geometric sphere. Also in 1515, Stabius, Dürer and the astronomer Konrad Heinfogel [ de ] produced the first planispheres of both southern and northerns hemispheres, as well as
1904-836: A result of the Sack of Antwerp in 1576, also known as the Spanish Fury. He then returned to Antwerp for nearly 20 years – perhaps his best period – and moved briefly to The Hague before settling in Brussels at about the turn of the century, where he remained until his death. The brothers were recorded as Lutherans in 1585, but as they later did a large amount of work for the Jesuits , it seems probable they converted or reconverted to Catholicism after this date. All three, but especially Hieronymus, were described by contemporaries as leading disorderly lives, and had long criminal records, mostly for drunkenness and
2023-509: A saint, set an example by visiting the remotest parishes and instilling high standards. The 1559–1967 Index Librorum Prohibitorum was a directory of prohibited books which was updated twenty times during the next four centuries as books were added or removed from the list by the Sacred Congregation of the Index . It was divided into three classes. The first class listed heretical writers,
2142-786: A specific parish or area like a vicar or canon. In Italy, the first congregation of regular clergy was the Theatines founded in 1524 by Gaetano and Cardinal Gian Caraffa . This was followed by the Somaschi Fathers in 1528, the Barnabites in 1530, the Ursulines in 1535, the Jesuits , canonically recognised in 1540, the Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of Lucca in 1583, the Camillians in 1584,
2261-666: A spiritual revival in Europe, incubated by the rise of preaching friars , the standardization of the Paris Bible , lay spiritual movements (such as the devotio moderna ), the examples of nascent saints such as Catherine of Bologna , Antoninus of Florence , Rita of Cascia and Catherine of Genoa , printing, Christian humanism , an urbanized laity who could not flee the towns for monasteries, and other reasons. A series of ecumenical councils were held with reformist agendas: The kinds of positive reforms considered were not necessarily
2380-444: A vast work printed from 192 separate blocks, the symbolism of which is partly informed by Pirckheimer's translation of Horapollo 's Hieroglyphica . The design program and explanations were devised by Johannes Stabius , the architectural design by the master builder and court-painter Jörg Kölderer and the woodcutting itself by Hieronymous Andreae , with Dürer as designer-in-chief. The Arch was followed by The Triumphal Procession ,
2499-478: A vigorous campaign of reform, inspired by earlier Catholic reform movements: humanism , devotionalism , and observantism . The council, by virtue of its actions, repudiated the pluralism of the secular Renaissance that had previously plagued the Church: the organization of religious institutions was tightened, discipline was improved, and the parish was emphasized. The appointment of bishops for political reasons
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#17328633173792618-407: A wealth of visual experiences in order to imagine beautiful things. Dürer's belief in the abilities of a single artist over inspiration prompted him to assert that "one man may sketch something with his pen on half a sheet of paper in one day, or may cut it into a tiny piece of wood with his little iron, and it turns out to be better and more artistic than another's work at which its author labours with
2737-597: A wealthy Antwerp merchant's house does not contribute to the desired effect in modern eyes. Among copies was a version made by Jesuit missionaries in China in woodblock print form, and editions presented to the Emperors of Ethiopia had a considerable influence on the iconography of local artists . Further work for the Jesuits followed. Hieronymus in particular came to specialize in small religious scenes. Apart from religious works
2856-444: A wide range of works, including the woodblocks for the first western printed star charts in 1515 and portraits in tempera on linen in 1516. His only experiments with etching came in this period, producing five between 1515–1516 and a sixth in 1518; a technique he may have abandoned as unsuited to his aesthetic of methodical, classical form. From 1512, Maximilian I became Dürer's major patron. He commissioned The Triumphal Arch ,
2975-523: A wooden sculpture. In 1515, he created his woodcut of a Rhinoceros which had arrived in Lisbon from a written description and sketch by another artist, without ever seeing the animal himself. An image of the Indian rhinoceros , the image has such force that it remains one of his best-known and was still used in some German school science text-books as late as last century. In the years leading to 1520 he produced
3094-462: Is here that we learn of his theories concerning 'ideal beauty'. Dürer rejected Alberti's concept of an objective beauty, proposing a relativist notion of beauty based on variety. Nonetheless, Dürer still believed that truth was hidden within nature, and that there were rules which ordered beauty, even though he found it difficult to define the criteria for such a code. In 1512/13 his three criteria were function ("Nutz"), naïve approval ("Wohlgefallen") and
3213-524: Is misleading: it cannot rightly be applied, logically or chronologically, to that sudden awakening as of a startled giant, that wonderful effort of rejuvenation and reorganization, which in a space of thirty years gave to the Church an altogether new appearance. … The so-called 'counter-reformation' did not begin with the Council of Trent, long after Luther; its origins and initial achievements were much anterior to
3332-490: Is now thought unlikely that Dürer cut any of the woodblocks himself; this task would have been performed by a specialist craftsman. However, his training in Wolgemut's studio, which made many carved and painted altarpieces and both designed and cut woodblocks for woodcut, evidently gave him great understanding of what the technique could be made to produce, and how to work with block cutters. Dürer either drew his design directly onto
3451-644: The Betende Hände ( Praying Hands ) from circa 1508, a study for an apostle in the Heller altarpiece. He continued to make images in watercolour and bodycolour (usually combined), including a number of still lifes of meadow sections or animals, including his Young Hare (1502) and the Great Piece of Turf (1503). In Italy, he returned to painting, at first producing a series of works executed in tempera on linen . These include portraits and altarpieces, notably,
3570-611: The Adorno Fathers in 1588, and finally the Piarists in 1621. At the end of the 1400s, a reform movement inspired by St Catherine of Genoa 's hospital ministry started spreading: in Rome, starting 1514, the Oratory of Divine Love attracted an aristocratic membership of priests and laymen to perform anonymous acts of charity and to discuss reform; the members subsequently became the key players in
3689-747: The Book of Genesis , and a large composition of Diana surprised by Actaeon . Most are on vellum . Albrecht D%C3%BCrer Albrecht Dürer ( / ˈ dj ʊər ər / DURE -ər , German: [ˈalbʁɛçt ˈdyːʁɐ] ; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528), sometimes spelled in English as Durer , was a German painter , printmaker , and theorist of the German Renaissance . Born in Nuremberg , Dürer established his reputation and influence across Europe in his twenties due to his high-quality woodcut prints . He
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3808-490: The Capuchins , recognized by the pope in 1619. This order was well known to the laity and played an important role in public preaching. To respond to the new needs of evangelism, clergy formed into religious congregations , taking special vows but with no obligation to assist in a monastery's religious offices. These regular clergy taught, preached and took confession but were under a bishop's direct authority and not linked to
3927-693: The Catholic Revival , was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It is frequently dated to have begun with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) and to end with the conclusion of the European wars of religion in 1648, though this is controversial. The broader term Catholic Reformation (Latin: Reformatio Catholica ) also encompasses reforms and movements within
4046-500: The Feast of Rose Garlands ). It shows Pope Julius II and Emperor Maximilian I , peacefully kneeling in adoration before her throne, both with their crowns taken off. It also includes portraits of members of Venice's German community and of Dürer himself on the upper right holding a designation of his authorship. Besides the Flemish verism in the depiction of the greenery and the garments, and
4165-647: The Four Books on Human Proportion ( Vier Bücher von menschlicher Proportion ) of 1528. The first book was mainly composed by 1512/13 and completed by 1523, showing five differently constructed types of both male and female figures, all parts of the body expressed in fractions of the total height. Dürer based these constructions on both Vitruvius and empirical observations of "two to three hundred living persons", in his own words. The second book includes eight further types, broken down not into fractions but an Albertian system, which Dürer probably learned from Francesco di Giorgio 's De harmonica mundi totius of 1525. In
4284-622: The French Jansenist theologian Pasquier Quesnel (1634–1719). Jansenism was a Protestant-leaning or mediating movement within Catholicism, in France and the Spanish Netherlands, that was criticized for being crypto-Calvinist, denying that Christ died for all, promoting that Holy Communion should be received very infrequently, and more. After Jansenist propositions were condemned it led to
4403-453: The Gothic alphabet is based upon an entirely different modular system. The fourth book completes the progression of the first and second by moving to three-dimensional forms and the construction of polyhedra . Here Dürer discusses the five Platonic solids , as well as seven Archimedean semi-regular solids, as well as several of his own invention. Dürer's work on human proportions is called
4522-596: The Observantist faction of the monastic orders (that less slackness regarding external observances would aid fervour in internal piety) or to promote a top-down ("head and body") institution-centric focus that reform needed to start at and from the Pope, or bishops, or councils, or princes, or canon law. There was considerable support for the evangelical counsels ' ideal of poverty as a way to short-circuit careerism, though John Wycliffe 's doctrine of mandatory apostolic poverty
4641-656: The Paumgartner altarpiece and the Adoration of the Magi . In early 1506, he returned to Venice and stayed there until the spring of 1507. By this time Dürer's engravings had attained great popularity and were being copied. In Venice he was given a valuable commission from the emigrant German community for the church of San Bartolomeo . This was the altar-piece known as the Feast of the Rosary (or
4760-557: The medieval church , its sacramental system, religious orders, and doctrine . It recommended that the form of Mass should be standardised, and this took place in 1570, when Pope Pius V made the Tridentine Mass obligatory. It rejected all compromise with Protestants, restating basic tenets of the Catholic Faith . The council upheld salvation appropriated by grace through faith and works of that faith (not just by faith , as
4879-473: The nude into Northern art, through his knowledge of Italian artists and German humanists , has secured his reputation as one of the most important figures of the Northern Renaissance . This is reinforced by his theoretical treatises, which involve principles of mathematics for linear perspective and body proportions . Dürer was born on 21 May 1471, the third child and second son of Albrecht Dürer
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4998-816: The "Red Book". This launched the Liturgical Struggle , which pitted John III of Sweden against his younger brother Charles . During this time, Jesuit Laurentius Nicolai came to lead the Collegium regium Stockholmense . This theatre of the Counter-Reformation was called the Missio Suetica . The 1578 Defensio Tridentinæ fidei was the Catholic response to the Examination of the Council of Trent . The 1713 papal bull Unigenitus condemned 101 propositions of
5117-707: The 14th century. The 'Benedictine Bull' of 1336 reformed the Benedictines and Cistercians . In 1523, the Camaldolese Hermits of Monte Corona were recognized as a separate congregation of monks. In 1435, Francis of Paola founded the Poor Hermits of Saint Francis of Assisi, who became the Minim Friars. In 1526, Matteo de Bascio suggested reforming the Franciscan rule of life to its original purity, giving birth to
5236-580: The Alps. Some have survived and others may be deduced from accurate landscapes of real places in his later work, for example his engraving Nemesis . In Italy, he went to Venice to study its more advanced artistic world. Through Wolgemut's tutelage, Dürer had learned how to make prints in drypoint and design woodcuts in the German style, based on the works of Schongauer and the Housebook Master . He also would have had access to some Italian works in Germany, but
5355-677: The Cardinal , Melanchthon, and Dürer's final major work, a drawn portrait of the Nuremberg patrician Ulrich Starck, Dürer depicted the sitters in profile. Despite complaining of his lack of a formal classical education, Dürer was greatly interested in intellectual matters and learned much from Willibald Pirckheimer, whom he no doubt consulted on the content of many of his images. He also derived great satisfaction from his friendships and correspondence with Erasmus and other scholars. Dürer succeeded in producing two books during his lifetime. The Four Books on Measurement were published at Nuremberg in 1525 and
5474-497: The Church in the periods immediately before Protestantism or Trent and lasting later. Initiated in part to address the challenges of the Protestant Reformations, the Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort arising from the decrees of the Council of Trent. The effort produced apologetic and polemical documents, heresy trials, anti-corruption efforts, spiritual movements, the promotion of new religious orders, and
5593-523: The Church were reaffirmed, there were noticeable changes to answer complaints that the Counter-Reformers were, tacitly, willing to admit were legitimate. Among the conditions to be corrected by Catholic reformers was the growing divide between the clerics and the laity; many members of the clergy in the rural parishes had been poorly educated. Often, these rural priests did not know Latin and lacked opportunities for proper theological training. Addressing
5712-593: The Council of Trent attempted to improve the discipline and administration of the Church. The worldly excesses of the secular Renaissance Church, epitomized by the era of Alexander VI (1492–1503), intensified during the Reformation under Pope Leo X (1513–1521), whose campaign to raise funds for the construction of Saint Peter's Basilica by supporting use of indulgences served as a key impetus for Martin Luther 's 95 Theses . The Catholic Church responded to these problems by
5831-501: The Counter-Reformation was a mission to reach parts of the world that had been colonized as predominantly Catholic and also try to reconvert nations such as Sweden and England that once were Catholic from the time of the Christianisation of Europe , but had been lost to the Reformation. Various Counter-Reformation theologians focused only on defending doctrinal positions such as the sacraments and pious practices that were attacked by
5950-517: The Devil (1513, probably based on Erasmus 's Handbook of a Christian Knight ), St. Jerome in His Study , and the much-debated Melencolia I (both 1514, the year Dürer's mother died). Further outstanding pen and ink drawings of Dürer's period of art work of 1513 were drafts for his friend Pirckheimer. These drafts were later used to design Lusterweibchen chandeliers, combining an antler with
6069-689: The Elder and Barbara Holper, who married in 1467. Albrecht Dürer the Elder (originally Albrecht Ajtósi) was a successful goldsmith who by 1455 had moved to Nuremberg from Ajtós , near Gyula in Hungary . He married Barbara, his master's daughter, when he himself qualified as a master. Her mother, Kinga Öllinger had some roots in Hungary too, as she was born in Sopron . The couple had eighteen children together, of which only three survived. Hans Dürer (1490–1534), also became
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#17328633173796188-566: The Four Apostles , was given by Dürer to the City of Nuremberg—although he was given 100 guilders in return. As for engravings, Dürer's work was restricted to portraits and illustrations for his treatise. The portraits include his boyhood friend Willibald Pirckheimer , Cardinal-Elector Albert of Mainz ; Frederick the Wise , elector of Saxony; Philipp Melanchthon , and Erasmus of Rotterdam . For those of
6307-618: The Hail Mary with the Pater Noster prayer, and made available vernacular French versions of the Gospels and Epistles. Conservative and reforming parties still survived within the Catholic Church even as the Protestant Reformations spread. Protestants decisively broke from the Catholic Church in the 1520s. The two distinct dogmatic positions within the Catholic Church solidified in the 1560s. The regular orders made their first attempts at reform in
6426-446: The Handling of Weapons", MS 26-232). Another manuscript based on the Nuremberg texts as well as one of Hans Talhoffer's works, the untitled Berlin Picture Book (Libr.Pict.A.83), is also thought to have originated in his workshop around this time. These sketches and watercolours show the same careful attention to detail and human proportion as Dürer's other work, and his illustrations of grappling, long sword, dagger, and messer are among
6545-520: The Johannisfriedhof cemetery. His large house (purchased in 1509 from the heirs of the astronomer Bernhard Walther ), where his workshop was located and where his widow lived until her death in 1539, remains a prominent Nuremberg landmark. Dürer's writings suggest that he may have been sympathetic to Luther's ideas, though it is unclear if he ever left the Catholic Church. Dürer wrote of his desire to draw Luther in his diary in 1520: "And God help me that I may go to Dr. Martin Luther; thus I intend to make
6664-482: The Most Necessary Accommodation of War ( De vrbibus, arcibus, castellisque condendis, ac muniendis rationes aliquot : praesenti bellorum necessitati accommodatissimae ), published by Christian Wechel (Wecheli/Wechelus) in Paris. The work is less proscriptively theoretical than his other works, and was soon overshadowed by the Italian theory of polygonal fortification (the trace italienne – see Bastion fort ), though his designs seem to have had some influence in
6783-414: The Protestant reformers, up to the Second Vatican Council in 1962–1965. 'Counter-Reformation’ is a translation of German : Gegenreformation . Protestant historians have tended to speak in terms of Catholic reform as part of the Counter-Reformation, itself a response to the Reformation. In nineteenth-century Germany, the term became part of the German : Kulturkampf : ‘Counter-Reformation’
6902-416: The Protestants insisted) because "faith without works is dead", as the Epistle of James states (2:22–26). Transubstantiation , according to which the consecrated bread and wine are held to have been transformed really and substantially into the body , blood , soul and divinity of Christ, was also reaffirmed, as were the traditional seven sacraments of the Catholic Church . Other practices that drew
7021-515: The Ten Thousand (1508, for Frederick of Saxony), Virgin with the Iris (1508), the altarpiece Assumption of the Virgin (1509, for Jacob Heller of Frankfurt), and Adoration of the Trinity (1511, for Matthaeus Landauer). During this period he also completed two woodcut series, the Great Passion and the Life of the Virgin , both published in 1511 together with a second edition of the Apocalypse series. The post-Venetian woodcuts show Dürer's development of chiaroscuro modelling effects, creating
7140-436: The Wierixs became "the leading purveyors of small-scale printed portraits in the Netherlands", although only Johannes appears to have made drawings from the life, and most of his portraits are copied from paintings, drawings or prints by others (very often of international figures). Some of Johannes' drawings were made to be engraved, but others were sold as finished objects. The British Museum has 44, including 19 illustrating
7259-427: The Younger later changed "Türer", his father's diction of the family's surname, to "Dürer", to adapt to the local Nuremberg dialect. Because Dürer left autobiographical writings and was widely known by his mid-twenties, his life is well documented in several sources. After a few years of school, Dürer learned the basics of goldsmithing and drawing from his father. Though his father wanted him to continue his training as
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#17328633173797378-565: The beginning I believed in Luther, like our Albert of blessed memory ... but as anyone can see, the situation has become worse." Dürer may even have contributed to the Nuremberg City Council's mandating Lutheran sermons and services in March 1525. Notably, Dürer had contacts with various reformers, such as Zwingli , Andreas Karlstadt , Melanchthon, Erasmus and Cornelius Grapheus from whom Dürer received Luther's Babylonian Captivity in 1520. Yet Erasmus and C. Grapheus are better said to be Catholic change agents. Also, from 1525, "the year that saw
7497-438: The book was halted for an unknown reason, and the decoration was continued by artists including Lucas Cranach the Elder and Hans Baldung . Dürer also made several portraits of the Emperor, including one shortly before Maximilian's death in 1519. Maximilian was a very cash-strapped prince who sometimes failed to pay, yet turned out to be Dürer's most important patron. In his court, artists and learned men were respected, which
7616-405: The charcoal from Maximilian's hand, finished the drawing and told him: "This is my scepter." In another occasion, Maximilian noticed that the ladder Dürer used was too short and unstable, thus told a noble to hold it for him. The noble refused, saying that it was beneath him to serve a non-noble. Maximilian then came to hold the ladder himself, and told the noble that he could make a noble out of
7735-422: The church handling the Reformation. In 1548, then-layman Philip Neri founded a Confraternity of the Most Holy Trinity of Pilgrims and Convalescents : this developed into the relatively-free religious community the Oratorians , who were given their constitutions in 1564 and recognized as a religious order by the pope in 1575. They used music and singing to attract the faithful. The 1530 Confutatio Augustana
7854-436: The construction of regular polygons . Here Dürer favours the methods of Ptolemy over Euclid . The third book applies these principles of geometry to architecture, engineering and typography . In architecture Dürer cites Vitruvius but elaborates his own classical designs and columns . In typography, Dürer depicts the geometric construction of the Latin alphabet , relying on Italian precedent . However, his construction of
7973-524: The difficult art of using the burin to make engravings. Most likely he had learned this skill during his early training with his father, as it was also an essential skill of the goldsmith. In 1496 he executed the Prodigal Son , which the Italian Renaissance art historian Giorgio Vasari singled out for praise some decades later, noting its Germanic quality. He was soon producing some spectacular and original images, notably Nemesis (1502), The Sea Monster (1498), and Saint Eustace ( c. 1501 ), with
8092-497: The drawing technique is also traced and connected to Dürer's other works), the identity of the commissioner is discussed. Now the painting of Siegert (and the legend associated with it) is used as evidence to suggest that this was Maximilian. Dürer is historically recorded to have entered the emperor's service in 1511, and the mural's date is calculated to be around 1505, but it is possible they have known and worked with each other earlier than 1511. Dürer's exploration of space led to
8211-507: The eastern German lands and up into the Baltic region. Dürer created many sketches and woodcuts of soldiers and knights over the course of his life. His most significant martial works, however, were made in 1512 as part of his efforts to secure the patronage of Maximilian I. Using existing manuscripts from the Nuremberg Group as his reference, his workshop produced the extensive Οπλοδιδασκαλια sive Armorvm Tractandorvm Meditatio Alberti Dvreri ("Weapon Training, or Albrecht Dürer's Meditation on
8330-467: The education of priests had been a fundamental focus of the humanist reformers in the past. Parish priests were to be better educated in matters of theology and apologetics , while Papal authorities sought to educate the faithful about the meaning, nature and value of art and liturgy, particularly in monastic churches (Protestants had criticised them as "distracting"). Handbooks became more common, describing how to be good priests and confessors. Thus,
8449-403: The emperor held the ladder) – that this encounter corresponds with the period Dürer was working on the Viennese murals. In 2020, during restoration work, art connoisseurs discovered a piece of handwriting now attributed to Dürer, suggesting that the Nuremberg master had actually participated in creating the murals at St. Stephen's Cathedral. In the recent 2022 Dürer exhibition in Nuremberg (in which
8568-511: The engraving of St. Philip , completed in 1523 but not distributed until 1526, may have been due to Dürer's uneasiness with images of saints; even if Dürer was not an iconoclast , in his last years he evaluated and questioned the role of art in religion. In all his theoretical works, in order to communicate his theories in the German language rather than in Latin , Dürer used graphic expressions based on
8687-403: The fame of Wittenberg. It was undertaken, not by way of answering the 'reformers,' but in obedience to demands and principles that are part of the unalterable tradition of the Church and proceed from her most fundamental loyalties. The Italian historian Massimo Firpo has distinguished "Catholic Reformation" from "Counter-Reformation" by their issues. In his view, the general "Catholic Reformation"
8806-410: The family business, although at least one of the brothers' many daughters married an engraver. The brothers all worked for a number of publishers, but also published their own prints, in total nearly half their output: Hieronymus published about 650 prints himself, Johannes 325 and Anton II 125. Johannes did more work for Plantin than Hieronymus, amounting to over 120 plates by 1576. Most of their work
8925-665: The famous character reference for the brothers mentioned above), took the brothers on. The prints were finally published in a separate volume from the text in 1593, the Evangelicae Historiae Imagines ("Pictures of the Gospel Stories") and were still being reprinted in the 18th century. They were intended as models of faithful depictions of the incidents of the Gospels, and partly as a Counter Reformation riposte to Protestant criticisms of Catholic iconographical tradition. The apparent setting of most interior scenes in
9044-503: The first printed celestial maps, which prompted the revival of interest in the field of uranometry throughout Europe. Maximilian's death came at a time when Dürer was concerned he was losing "my sight and freedom of hand" (perhaps caused by arthritis) and increasingly affected by the writings of Martin Luther . In July 1520 Dürer made his fourth and last major journey, to renew the Imperial pension Maximilian had given him and to secure
9163-516: The flourishing of new art and musical styles. Such policies (e.g., by the Imperial Diets of the Holy Roman Empire ) had long-lasting effects in European history with exiles of Protestants continuing until the 1781 Patent of Toleration , although smaller expulsions took place in the 19th century. Such reforms included the foundation of seminaries for the proper training of priests in
9282-481: The goldsmith Georg. In 1493 Dürer went to Strasbourg , where he would have experienced the sculpture of Nikolaus Gerhaert . Dürer's first painted self-portrait (now in the Louvre ) was painted at this time, probably to be sent back to his fiancée in Nuremberg. Very soon after his return to Nuremberg, on 7 July 1494, at the age of 23, Dürer was married to Agnes Frey following an arrangement made during his absence. Agnes
9401-599: The half-century before the reformation, the phenomenon of Bishops closing down decadent monasteries or convents had become more common, as had programs to educate parish priests. In the half-century before the Council of Trent, various evangelical Catholic leaders had experimented with reforms that came to be associated with Protestants: for example, Guillaume Briçonnet (bishop of Meaux) in Paris, with his former teacher Jacques Lefèvre d’Etaples , had statues other than Christ removed from his churches (though not destroyed ), replaced
9520-437: The happy medium ("Mittelmass"). However, unlike Alberti and Leonardo , Dürer was most troubled by understanding not just the abstract notions of beauty but also as to how an artist can create beautiful images. Between 1512 and the final draft in 1528, Dürer's belief developed from an understanding of human creativity as spontaneous or inspired to a concept of 'selective inward synthesis'. In other words, that an artist builds on
9639-866: The highest-quality in any fencing manual. Dürer exerted a huge influence on the artists of succeeding generations, especially in printmaking, the medium through which his contemporaries mostly experienced his art, as his paintings were predominantly in private collections located in only a few cities. His success in spreading his reputation across Europe through prints was undoubtedly an inspiration for major artists such as Raphael, Titian , and Parmigianino , all of whom collaborated with printmakers to promote and distribute their work. Counter Reformation Artists Clergy Monarchs Popes Electors of Saxony Holy Roman Emperors Building Literature Theater Liturgies Hymnals Monuments Calendrical commemoration The Counter-Reformation ( Latin : Contrareformatio ), also sometimes called
9758-648: The ire of Protestant reformers, such as pilgrimages , the veneration of saints and relics , the use of venerable images and statuary , and the veneration of the Virgin Mary were strongly reaffirmed as spiritually commendable practices. The council, in the Canon of Trent , officially accepted the Vulgate listing of the Old Testament Bible, which included the deuterocanonical works (called apocrypha by Protestants) on
9877-551: The leading engraver of Northern Europe, but who died shortly before Dürer's arrival at Colmar in 1492. It is unclear where Dürer travelled in the intervening period, though it is likely that he went to Frankfurt and the Netherlands . In Colmar, Dürer was welcomed by Schongauer's brothers, the goldsmiths Caspar and Paul and the painter Ludwig. Later that year, Dürer travelled to Basel to stay with another brother of Martin Schongauer,
9996-417: The like, but Hieronymus spent several months in prison in 1579-80 for an accidentally fatal drunken assault on a female tavernkeeper. They may have been let go by Plantin for this reason, and a famous letter from him complained that they only worked for a few days to raise enough money to disappear into the taverns, where he would have to seek them out, pay their bills, and get their tools out of pawn . However
10115-460: The main artistic centres of Europe within a very few years. The Venetian artist Jacopo de' Barbari , whom Dürer had met in Venice, visited Nuremberg in 1500, and Dürer said that he learned much about the new developments in perspective , anatomy , and proportion from him. To Dürer it seemed that De' Barbari was unwilling to explain everything he knew, so he began his own studies, which would become
10234-466: The ones that pre-occupied the Hussites (e.g., communion under both kinds , married priests) and later Protestants (e.g., indulgences , justification). Ending schism and war (especially papal war) was regarded by some prelates as the pre-condition for reformation. At times, the reform talk in the councils tended to lack enough specificity to result in an effective program—except for a tendency to follow
10353-441: The order's founder, St. Ignatius Loyola before his death in 1556. He had asked the literary Jesuit Jerome Nadal to prepare the text, and 154 drawings had been produced by various artists, mostly Italian. Plantin had agreed to publish the work, but with the disruption of the Spanish Fury of 1576, had not done so by his death. After attempting to find engravers elsewhere, the Jesuits, in the person of Fr Ferdinand Ximenez (recipient of
10472-621: The patronage of the new emperor, Charles V , who was to be crowned at Aachen . Dürer journeyed with his wife and her maid via the Rhine to Cologne and then to Antwerp , where he was well received and produced numerous drawings in silverpoint, chalk and charcoal. In addition to attending the coronation, he visited Cologne (where he admired the painting of Stefan Lochner ), Nijmegen , 's-Hertogenbosch , Bruges (where he saw Michelangelo 's Madonna of Bruges ), Ghent (where he admired Jan van Eyck 's Ghent Altarpiece ), and Zeeland . Dürer took
10591-669: The peak and collapse of the Peasants' War , the artist can be seen to distance himself somewhat from the [Lutheran] movement..." Dürer's later works have also been claimed to show Protestant sympathies. His 1523 The Last Supper woodcut has often been understood to have an evangelical theme, focusing as it does on Christ espousing the Gospel , as well as the inclusion of the Eucharistic cup, an expression of Protestant utraquism , although this interpretation has been questioned. The delaying of
10710-513: The picture for some white cloth after Margaret disliked the portrait and declined to accept it. During this trip he also met Bernard van Orley , Jan Provoost , Gerard Horenbout , Jean Mone , Joachim Patinir and Tommaso Vincidor , though he did not, it seems, meet Quentin Matsys . Having secured his pension, Dürer returned home in July 1521, having caught an undetermined illness, which afflicted him for
10829-654: The productivity and quality of their work gives a rather different picture. As they grew older they led more regular lives, all marrying with several children, and probably all running workshops with assistants – the portraitist Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt began his training with Hieronymus, although he soon moved to another master. The father of Samuel Dirksz van Hoogstraten was another pupil of Hieronymus. Johannes' pupils included Hendrik Hondius I (1573 – c. 1650). After Anton II died relatively young in 1604, Hieronymus took over his plates and his young son Anton III. Anton III's death at an even younger age brought an end to
10948-465: The program of which was worked out in 1512 by Marx Treitz-Saurwein [ de ] and includes woodcuts by Albrecht Altdorfer and Hans Springinklee , as well as Dürer. Dürer worked with pen on the marginal images for an edition of the Emperor's printed prayer book; these were quite unknown until facsimiles were published in 1808 as part of the first book published in lithography . Dürer's work on
11067-442: The proportions of men and horses, and fortification . However, one consequence of this shift in emphasis was that during the last years of his life, Dürer produced comparatively little as an artist. In painting, there was only a portrait of Hieronymus Holtzschuher , a Madonna and Child (1526) , Salvator Mundi (1526) , and two panels showing St. John with St. Peter and St. Paul with St. Mark beside him. This last great work,
11186-425: The rest of his life, and greatly reduced his rate of work. On his return to Nuremberg, Dürer worked on a number of grand projects with religious themes, including a crucifixion scene and a sacra conversazione , though neither was completed. This may have been due in part to his declining health, but perhaps also because of the time he gave to the preparation of his theoretical works on geometry and perspective,
11305-578: The rest of his work, but revolutionised the potential of that medium, while his extraordinary handling of the burin expanded especially the tonal range of his engravings; well-known engravings include the three Meisterstiche (master prints) Knight, Death and the Devil (1513), Saint Jerome in his Study (1514), and Melencolia I (1514). His watercolours mark him as one of the first European landscape artists , and with his confident self-portraits he pioneered them as well as autonomous subjects of art. Dürer's introduction of classical motifs and of
11424-477: The same block) by the Wolgemut workshop. Dürer may have worked on some of these, as the work on the project began while he was with Wolgemut. After completing his apprenticeship, Dürer followed the common German custom of taking Wanderjahre —in effect gap years —in which the apprentice learned skills from other masters, their local tradition and individual styles; Dürer was to spend about four years away. He left in 1490, possibly to work under Martin Schongauer ,
11543-556: The second class listed heretical works, and the third class listed forbidden writings which were published without the name of the author. The Index was finally suspended on 29 March 1967. The 1566 Roman Catechism provided material in Latin to help the clergy catechize in the vernacular. The 1575 Nova ordinantia ecclesiastica was an addendum to the Liturgia Svecanæ Ecclesiæ catholicæ & orthodoxæ conformia , also called
11662-523: The spiritual life and the theological traditions of the Church, the reform of religious life by returning orders to their spiritual foundations, and new spiritual movements focusing on the devotional life and a personal relationship with Christ , including the Spanish mystics and the French school of spirituality . It also involved political activities and used the regional Inquisitions . A primary emphasis of
11781-631: The subject. The term ‘Catholic Reformation’ appealed to Catholic historians because it offered them the possibility of avoiding the term ‘Counter-Reformation’, with its problematic connotation of a mere reaction to Protestantism. But it was rejected by Protestant historians – largely because they did not want the term ‘Reformation’ to be used for anything other than the Protestant Reformation. Catholic historians tend to emphasize them as different. The French historian Henri Daniel-Rops wrote: The term ('counter-reformation'), however, though common,
11900-402: The third book, Dürer gives principles by which the proportions of the figures can be modified, including the mathematical simulation of convex and concave mirrors ; here Dürer also deals with human physiognomy . The fourth book is devoted to the theory of movement. Appended to the last book, however, is a self-contained essay on aesthetics, which Dürer worked on between 1512 and 1528, and it
12019-542: The two visits he made to Italy had an enormous influence on him. He wrote that Giovanni Bellini was the oldest and still the best of the artists in Venice. His drawings and engravings show the influence of others, notably Antonio del Pollaiuolo , with his interest in the proportions of the body; Lorenzo di Credi ; and Andrea Mantegna , whose work he produced copies of while training. Dürer probably also visited Padua and Mantua on this trip. On his return to Nuremberg in 1495, Dürer opened his own workshop (being married
12138-657: The use of his own hues, the altar-piece shows a strong Italian influence. It was later acquired by the Emperor Rudolf II and taken to Prague. Despite the regard in which he was held by the Venetians, Dürer returned to Nuremberg by mid-1507, remaining in Germany until 1520. His reputation had spread throughout Europe and he was on friendly terms and in communication with many of the major artists including Raphael . Between 1507 and 1511 Dürer worked on some of his most celebrated paintings: Adam and Eve (1507), Martyrdom of
12257-572: The utmost diligence for a whole year". In 1527, Dürer also published Various Lessons on the Fortification of Cities, Castles, and Localities ( Etliche Underricht zu Befestigung der Stett, Schloss und Flecken ). It was printed in Nuremberg , probably by Hieronymus Andreae and reprinted in 1603 by Johan Janssenn in Arnhem . In 1535 it was also translated into Latin as On Cities, Forts, and Castles, Designed and Strengthened by Several Manners: Presented for
12376-699: The woodblock itself, or glued a paper drawing to the block. Either way, his drawings were destroyed during the cutting of the block. His series of sixteen designs for the Apocalypse is dated 1498, as is his engraving of St. Michael Fighting the Dragon . He made the first seven scenes of the Great Passion in the same year, and a little later, a series of eleven on the Holy Family and saints. The Seven Sorrows Polyptych , commissioned by Frederick III of Saxony in 1496,
12495-418: Was "centered on the care of souls ..., episcopal residence, the renewal of the clergy, together with the charitable and educational roles of the new religious orders", whereas the specific "Counter-Reformation" was "founded upon the defence of orthodoxy, the repression of dissent, the reassertion of ecclesiastical authority". Other relevant terms that may be encountered: The 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries saw
12614-464: Was a requirement for this). Over the next five years, his style increasingly integrated Italian influences into underlying Northern forms. Arguably his best works in the first years of the workshop were his woodcut prints, mostly religious, but including secular scenes such as The Men's Bath ( c. 1496 ). These were larger and more finely cut than the great majority of German woodcuts hitherto, and far more complex and balanced in composition. It
12733-515: Was based on compositions by another artist, whether a painting, drawing or print. In ambitious original compositions, the brothers could not match the work of their contemporary Hendrik Goltzius and other Dutch engravers, and they produced few works of this sort. Their association with the Jesuits began with the illustrations for the Adnotationes et Meditationes in Evangelia , a project initiated by
12852-477: Was decisively rejected at the Council of Constance. Issues such as papal nepotism and the wealth, dioscese-absenteeism, and pre-occupation with secular power of important bishops were recognized as perennial and scandalous problems. These resisted serious reform (by successive popes and councils with those bishops, unable to compromise their own interests) for centuries, causing friction as radical reformers periodically arose in response, such as Savonarola . In
12971-502: Was executed by Dürer and his assistants c. 1500. In 1502, Dürer's father died. Around 1503–1505 Dürer produced the first 17 of a set illustrating the Life of the Virgin , which he did not finish for some years. Neither these nor the Great Passion were published as sets until several years later, but prints were sold individually in considerable numbers. During the same period Dürer perfected
13090-423: Was in contact with the major Italian artists of his time, including Raphael , Giovanni Bellini , Fra Luca Pacioli and Leonardo da Vinci , and from 1512 was patronized by Emperor Maximilian I . Dürer's vast body of work includes engravings , his preferred technique in his later prints, altarpieces, portraits and self-portraits, watercolours and books. The woodcuts series are stylistically more Gothic than
13209-630: Was is unknown – it was unlikely to be their father, who had joined the Antwerp artists' Guild of Saint Luke in 1545/6 but is also recorded as a cabinetmaker. Johannes and Hieronymus first worked producing book illustrations for the large publishing concern of Christopher Plantin in Antwerp. Hieronymus was first paid by Plantin in 1570, and they both joined the Antwerp artists' Guild of Saint Luke in 1572/3. Johannes probably trained Anton II, and Hieronymus, Anton III. The brothers often worked together, but Johannes moved to Delft from 1577–79, probably as
13328-556: Was no longer tolerated. In the past, the large landholdings forced many bishops to be "absent bishops" who at times were property managers trained in administration. Thus, the Council of Trent combated " absenteeism ", which was the practice of bishops living in Rome or on landed estates rather than in their dioceses. The Council of Trent gave bishops greater power to supervise all aspects of religious life. Zealous prelates, such as Milan 's Archbishop Carlo Borromeo (1538–1584), later canonized as
13447-453: Was not common at that time (later, Dürer commented that in Germany, as a non-noble, he was treated as a parasite). Pirckheimer (who he met in 1495, before entering the service of Maximilian) was also an important personage in the court and great cultural patron, who had a strong influence on Dürer as his tutor in classical knowledge and humanistic critical methodology, as well as collaborator. In Maximilian's court, Dürer also collaborated with
13566-489: Was the Catholic response to the Lutheran Augsburg Confession . Pope Paul III (1534–1549) is considered the first pope of the Counter-Reformation, and he also initiated the Council of Trent (1545–1563), tasked with institutional reform, addressing contentious issues such as corrupt bishops and priests , the sale of indulgences , and other financial abuses. The council upheld the basic structure of
13685-557: Was the daughter of a prominent brass worker (and amateur harpist) in the city. However, no children resulted from the marriage, and with Albrecht the Dürer name died out. The marriage between Agnes and Albrecht was believed not to be a generally happy one, as indicated by a letter of Dürer in which he quipped to Willibald Pirckheimer in a rough tone about his wife, calling her an "old crow" and made other vulgar remarks. Pirckheimer also made no secret of his antipathy towards Agnes, describing her as
13804-403: Was the first book for adults on mathematics in German, as well as being cited later by Galileo and Kepler . The other, a work on city fortifications, was published in 1527. The Four Books on Human Proportion were published posthumously, shortly after his death in 1528. Dürer died in Nuremberg at the age of 56, leaving an estate valued at 6,874 florins – a considerable sum. He is buried in
13923-456: Was the leading artist in Nuremberg at the time, with a large workshop producing a variety of works of art, in particular woodcuts for books. Nuremberg was then an important and prosperous city, a centre for publishing and many luxury trades. It had strong links with Italy , especially Venice , a relatively short distance across the Alps . Dürer's godfather Anton Koberger left goldsmithing to become
14042-528: Was the younger by four years he was able to keep pace with his brother. Even for that period they were precocious, with very fine copies of other prints dated from the age of 12 in Hieronymus's case, and 14 in Johannes' (as apprentices they were not supposed to sign work, but added their ages and a date). Their copies of engravings by Albrecht Dürer from this period are still valued by collectors. Who their master
14161-476: Was used by Protestant historians as a negative and one-dimensional concept that stressed the aspect of reaction and resistance to Protestantism and neglected that of reform within Catholicism. The term was understandably shunned by Catholic historians. Even when the Protestant historian Wilhelm Maurenbrecher introduced the term ‘Catholic Reformation’ in 1880, German historiography remained confessionally divided on
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