Albrecht Dürer

Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) was one of the most interesting painters of all time. He’s known for doing self-portraits during the Renaissance, which made him highly famous. One of the most interesting paintings he’s done is the well-known painting, “Self-Portrait” (1500). It is said that this painting is interesting because his pose is recalling the appearances of Christ. He also did something very odd, he changed his natural hair color to make the painting more dramatic and look more like Christ. I’m not sure why he wanted to make himself look like Christ, but maybe he wanted to feel powerful and dominated, or maybe he just wanted to see Christ through himself. A lot of early painters painted Christ in their paintings, but never to actually “be like” Christ.

High Renaissance was more leaning towards naturalism and balance, but this triangular representation of himself depicts more on the lines of Northern Renaissance art forms. For example, his frontal view was more popular in the earlier Renaissance stages. Also, naturalism, the rise of humanism was a big part in the Early Renaissance and he definitely reflected that in his self-portrait. Another popular subject to do in these early phases, were self-portraits. A lot of painters during this time like to reflect themselves in their very own paintings. For example, Jan Van Eyck also liked to put part of himself in his paintings, whether it was a self-image or a scripture.

Most importantly, Albrecht Dürer had a mind of his own, or as people would say he was, “independent creative genius”. He was most famous for publishing woodcut prints in Germany, trade marking everything he’s ever painted, and painting himself in everything. His self-portrait made him very popular, considering it is extremely realistic. Another thing Dürer is famous for, was painting his chin hairs. You can tell in this painting that his chin hairs stand out. They seem like they are almost glowing! Considering Dürer travelled to Italy, I assume that the famous Michelangelo or Raphael influenced him, just like many other artists that travelled through Italy. In this “Self-Portrait” painting, it seems almost real, it is so detailed. From the curly locks on his head, to his fingertips are incredibly specified. It is interesting that this painting is very dark, yet his face and hand are highlighted, not like any Renaissance has seen. I think Dürer liked having his individual achievement and being able to do whatever he wanted, especially because he was from Germany, he started his own type of art. What I find most particular is the quality of the painting. The exact detail of this triangular perspective really is eye popping, just as Northern Renaissance paintings started to capture. The full depth in this painting really is a great representative of Albrecht Dürer and his amazing artistic abilities. I think he was most remembered for his experiments, nothing like anybody has ever seen, and his “Self-Portrait” is a good example of an outstanding picture and representative of a naturalistic piece.