PORTRAIT OF HIMSELF—Dürer
DÜRER AND HOLBEIN
The Middle Years
TWO
Dürer visited Venice in the fall of 1505, and stayed there until the spring of 1507. The main reason for this journey was the commission to paint a picture for the Germans living at Venice. His fame had spread greatly, and as his countrymen wanted to dedicate a picture in the Church of Saint Bartholomew they chose him to paint it. The picture that Dürer did for them was the “Adoration of the Virgin,” better known as the “Feast of the Rose Garlands.” Emperor Rudolf II later got hold of it. It was carried to Vienna upon men’s shoulders, as a thing of great value. It is now, greatly injured, in the monastery of Strahov at Prague.
At Venice, Dürer was treated with great respect and admiration. He held a high position there; although most of the Italian artists were jealous of him. But in spite of his desire to remain in Italy for the rest of his life, he returned to Nuremberg in 1507.
All over Europe, Dürer was now recognized as a great painter. All the living master artists of the age were his friends or acquaintances. The great Raphael felt honored to exchange drawings with him.
But his intimate life was not so happy. It has been said that his wife plagued him to death with her meanness. It is undoubtedly true that, although Agnes was a good housewife and manager, she made the artist overwork himself for money. For years her name was held up among the Germans as an example of an unworthy wife. In none of his letters does Dürer speak of her with tenderness or affection.
Beyond this the artist’s life was uneventful. The years from 1507 to 1511 he spent in painting. The three following he devoted mostly to engraving on both wood and copper. Copper engraving especially took up much of his time. At the same time he resumed etching. He was also interested in mathematical and anatomical studies on the proportions and structure of the human frame.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 48, SERIAL No. 48
COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.