DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.48092#0190
I/O
durer’s literary remains.
[chap.
MSS. The binder has ruthlessly cropped all the leaves of the
first volume. There are also scraps and strips of paper of
almost any size, some torn, some pasted on to other sheets, most
of them carefully cut with scissors out of larger leaves, perhaps
by Dtirer himself. The paper bears some of the water-marks
given by Hausmann1, but there are others not known to him.
Many different kinds of paper are used, mostly white but in a
few instances brown or prepared for tracing (eg. II. 73, 74).
At what period of his career Dtirer first conceived the idea
of writing a comprehensive work upon the theory and practice
of art is unknown. It was certainly before the year 1512. The
following list of chapters may perhaps be an early sketch of the
plan. It is written on the verso of a sheet (il. 36; see below, p.
188), on the recto of which is a drawing of a human foot for
the proportion studies2.
“Ten things are contained in the little book.
The first, the proportions of a young child.
The second, proportions of a grown man.
The third, proportions of a woman.
The fourth, proportions of a horse.
The fifth, something about architecture.
The sixth, about an apparatus through which it can be shown that
all things may be traced.
The seventh, about light and shade.
The eighth, about colours, how to paint like nature.
The ninth, about the ordering (composition) of the picture.
The tenth, about free painting, which alone is made without any
help from the Understanding.”
When Dtirer made this comprehensive plan he must still
have been sanguine with the vigour of youth. He prepared to
carry it out when his mental activity was at its height, when he
had finished his great pictures, and his powers were mature.
Looking forth then from his lofty throne over his kingdom of
art, with its many provinces, he planned the issue of a great
code of laws for the guidance of his followers.
1 B. Hausmann, A. Durer’s Kupferstiche.
2 Dtirer sometimes drew single limbs and stuck them on to other proportion studies
in which a limb required correction. This foot, judging from the green sealing-wax
stains on the paper, may have served such a purpose. The drawing appears to be of
early date, and, as the paper has been cut down to the size required for the foot and
the writing on the verso is not interfered with by the cutting, the writing is probably
later than the drawing.
durer’s literary remains.
[chap.
MSS. The binder has ruthlessly cropped all the leaves of the
first volume. There are also scraps and strips of paper of
almost any size, some torn, some pasted on to other sheets, most
of them carefully cut with scissors out of larger leaves, perhaps
by Dtirer himself. The paper bears some of the water-marks
given by Hausmann1, but there are others not known to him.
Many different kinds of paper are used, mostly white but in a
few instances brown or prepared for tracing (eg. II. 73, 74).
At what period of his career Dtirer first conceived the idea
of writing a comprehensive work upon the theory and practice
of art is unknown. It was certainly before the year 1512. The
following list of chapters may perhaps be an early sketch of the
plan. It is written on the verso of a sheet (il. 36; see below, p.
188), on the recto of which is a drawing of a human foot for
the proportion studies2.
“Ten things are contained in the little book.
The first, the proportions of a young child.
The second, proportions of a grown man.
The third, proportions of a woman.
The fourth, proportions of a horse.
The fifth, something about architecture.
The sixth, about an apparatus through which it can be shown that
all things may be traced.
The seventh, about light and shade.
The eighth, about colours, how to paint like nature.
The ninth, about the ordering (composition) of the picture.
The tenth, about free painting, which alone is made without any
help from the Understanding.”
When Dtirer made this comprehensive plan he must still
have been sanguine with the vigour of youth. He prepared to
carry it out when his mental activity was at its height, when he
had finished his great pictures, and his powers were mature.
Looking forth then from his lofty throne over his kingdom of
art, with its many provinces, he planned the issue of a great
code of laws for the guidance of his followers.
1 B. Hausmann, A. Durer’s Kupferstiche.
2 Dtirer sometimes drew single limbs and stuck them on to other proportion studies
in which a limb required correction. This foot, judging from the green sealing-wax
stains on the paper, may have served such a purpose. The drawing appears to be of
early date, and, as the paper has been cut down to the size required for the foot and
the writing on the verso is not interfered with by the cutting, the writing is probably
later than the drawing.