Albrecht Durer: A Legacy Earned

The significance and contribution of Albrecht Durer to the art community is not only amazing but also a source of wonder as to how understated it is. Yet, he was not only collected by enthusiasts but artists, and he was imitated as well.

His woodcuts and engravings were collected from the Mediterranean to the North Sea. They were in the hands of such artists as Italian Renaissance masters as Raphael, Montegna, and Bellini.

Albrecht Durer’s print oeuvre was found in the collections of such dignitaries as Henry VIII of England, King Christian II of Scandinavia, Emperor Maximillian I (of course), Princess Margaret, Regent of the Netherlands, Maximilian’s grandson Charles V, and even the son of Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand.

Raphael’s own masterpiece, Christ Bearing the Cross (c. 1516) borrowed the figure of Christ from Albrecht Durer’s woodcut, Christ Bearing the Cross (1509) from the Small Passion.

Tintoretto, the great Italian Mannerist of the Venetian school, mirrored the Holy Father holding the body of Christ in the Lamentation (c. 1560).

Its source came from Albrecht Durer’s woodcut, Trinity (1511).

El Greco, the Spanish Mannerist also borrowed from Durer’s Trinity, absorbing outlines and content in his work, The Throne of Grace (1577).

Even Rembrandt, the great Dutch painter and printmaker echoed the figure of Christ in his etching, Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple (1638).

Its design came from the Albrecht Durer woodcut (of the same name) from the Small Passion (1509-1511).

Impressive enough; however, one of Albrecht Durer’s most incredible legacies involves the Italian Renaissance master, Michelangelo,  who reportedly told Charles V in a conversation that if he were not Michelangelo he would rather be Albrecht Durer than the Emperor.

Quite a tribute to Albrecht Durer: a legacy earned.