Zitierlink:
https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/duerer_society1903/0006
PAINTINGS.
i.
DURER. The Crucifixion. ...
Photogravure by Messrs, Bruckmann^ of Munich^ from the picture of 1506 (7! by 6| in,; 20 by 16 cmf
in the Dresden Gallery (No, 1870).
ICH BLUE is the prevailing colour in the landscape; the hills and water are blue, the trees
light green; the sky near the horizon is pale yellow, passing upwards into dull pink, and
so through grey to deepest black. The bark of the tree of which the cross is made is a
pearly grey, like that of the birch. The inscription, PATER T-MANVS-TVAS-COMENDO
SPIRITV-MEV, is painted on a band of dull red. The date, 1506, and the monogram are
painted below the feet of Christ. The picture was painted at Venice, and the colour shows the influence
of Bellini. The execution is marvellously delicate, and this little picture, very slightly larger than the
photogravure, is technically, and in every way, one of the most perfect works of Diirer.
DURER. The Paumgartner Altarpiece.
The picture, a Nativity with two wings, was painted by Diirer about 1504 for the Church
of St. Catherine, at Nuremberg, as a commission for the Paumgartner family. It was acquired in 1613
by the Elector Maximilian of Bavaria, and is now at Munich (Alte Pinakothek,Nos. 240—242). The whole
altarpiece has been submitted in the course of the last few months to a remarkable process of restoration,
by which the original work of Diirer has been laid bare, after nearly three centuries of concealment under
additional paint. The restoration was carried out by Professor Hauser, under the direction of Dr. Voll;
the wings were confronted with old copies, formerly in the Klinkosch collection, which showed the
figures of the two saints as Diirer left them, and the middle picture, more recently taken in hand, was
compared with an early copy in the Church of St. Laurence at Nuremberg.
II.
The Wings of the Paumgartner Altarpiece, after the recent Restoration.
Photogravure by Messrs, Bruckmann^ of Munich,
St. George, three-quarter face to the right, holds a lance with the red-cross banner in his right
hand, and with his left hand clasps the neck of the defeated dragon. The features are said by tradition
to be those of Stephan Paumgartner.
St. Eustace, three-quarter face to the left, holds in his right hand a lance carrying a banner with
his emblem, a stag’s head bearing a crucifix between the antlers; his left hand grasps the hilt of his
sword. The saint is said to be a portrait of Lucas Paumgartner.
Each saint stands on ground covered with pebble.s. The background, above the level of the
soil, is a plain black.
III.
The Wings of the Paumgartner Altarpiece, before the recent Restoration.
Collotypes by Messrs, Bruckmann^ of Munich,
After the acquisition of the pictures by the Elector Maximilian, the wings were largely altered
by Johann Georg Fischer, a painter in the Elector’s employment, who was a somewhat skilful imitator
of Diirer’s style. Strips were added on either side of the two panels, and the additional space thus
3
i.
DURER. The Crucifixion. ...
Photogravure by Messrs, Bruckmann^ of Munich^ from the picture of 1506 (7! by 6| in,; 20 by 16 cmf
in the Dresden Gallery (No, 1870).
ICH BLUE is the prevailing colour in the landscape; the hills and water are blue, the trees
light green; the sky near the horizon is pale yellow, passing upwards into dull pink, and
so through grey to deepest black. The bark of the tree of which the cross is made is a
pearly grey, like that of the birch. The inscription, PATER T-MANVS-TVAS-COMENDO
SPIRITV-MEV, is painted on a band of dull red. The date, 1506, and the monogram are
painted below the feet of Christ. The picture was painted at Venice, and the colour shows the influence
of Bellini. The execution is marvellously delicate, and this little picture, very slightly larger than the
photogravure, is technically, and in every way, one of the most perfect works of Diirer.
DURER. The Paumgartner Altarpiece.
The picture, a Nativity with two wings, was painted by Diirer about 1504 for the Church
of St. Catherine, at Nuremberg, as a commission for the Paumgartner family. It was acquired in 1613
by the Elector Maximilian of Bavaria, and is now at Munich (Alte Pinakothek,Nos. 240—242). The whole
altarpiece has been submitted in the course of the last few months to a remarkable process of restoration,
by which the original work of Diirer has been laid bare, after nearly three centuries of concealment under
additional paint. The restoration was carried out by Professor Hauser, under the direction of Dr. Voll;
the wings were confronted with old copies, formerly in the Klinkosch collection, which showed the
figures of the two saints as Diirer left them, and the middle picture, more recently taken in hand, was
compared with an early copy in the Church of St. Laurence at Nuremberg.
II.
The Wings of the Paumgartner Altarpiece, after the recent Restoration.
Photogravure by Messrs, Bruckmann^ of Munich,
St. George, three-quarter face to the right, holds a lance with the red-cross banner in his right
hand, and with his left hand clasps the neck of the defeated dragon. The features are said by tradition
to be those of Stephan Paumgartner.
St. Eustace, three-quarter face to the left, holds in his right hand a lance carrying a banner with
his emblem, a stag’s head bearing a crucifix between the antlers; his left hand grasps the hilt of his
sword. The saint is said to be a portrait of Lucas Paumgartner.
Each saint stands on ground covered with pebble.s. The background, above the level of the
soil, is a plain black.
III.
The Wings of the Paumgartner Altarpiece, before the recent Restoration.
Collotypes by Messrs, Bruckmann^ of Munich,
After the acquisition of the pictures by the Elector Maximilian, the wings were largely altered
by Johann Georg Fischer, a painter in the Elector’s employment, who was a somewhat skilful imitator
of Diirer’s style. Strips were added on either side of the two panels, and the additional space thus
3