DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52444#0034
INTRODUCTION.
too much weight must not be attached to it. Nor has it been admitted
here to any great extent, except for the prints of the first period, the
workmanship of which undoubtedly points to the same time. As to
Diirer’s workmanship in general, an examination of his prints will show
that, with increasing command over the burin, he not only strove for
greater regularity of line, but that he developed also the coloristic possi-
bilities of engraving; that is to say, he endeavored, by variety of texture,
which results from difference in treatment, direction, and combination of
lines and dots, to suggest a feeling of color. He was in this a forerunner
of the engravers of the Rubens school, who are usually credited with
being the first colorists with the burin. As these efforts, however, are
more especially noticeable in the dated engravings, and will be pointed
out in the discussion of the individual plates, they need not here be dwelt
upon. It will be sufficient to name as especially characteristic examples,
which may help to make the matter clearer to the student by way of
contrast, “The Virgin and Child with the Monkey” (No. 13 of this cata-
logue) and “The Virgin sitting by a Wall” (No. 75),— the former a fine
specimen of pure black-and-white work, the latter the most developed
example of coloristic engraving in Diirer’s oeuvre. It may be stated,
also, that towards the close of his life he returned again to simpler
methods.
But in spite of all the aids invoked, the sequence of the undated plates
will always remain a subject for discussion. Plates 1-6, as here arranged,
offer no difficulty, so far as workmanship is concerned. No. 2, “ The
Holy Family with the Dragon-fly,” stands apart as regards the design,
in consequence, no doubt, of the influence of Schongauer which is appar-
ent in it, although others, as, for instance, Springer, detect Italian influ-
ences in it. With Nos. 7-10 it is different. The set character of the
lining of the flesh in No. 7, “The Penance of St. John Chrysostom,”
would seem to point to a later time, but the general conception is
rather archaic, and the shape of the monogram supports this conclu-
sion. The beautiful little Madonna, No. 8, stands quite apart in Diirer’s
xvi
too much weight must not be attached to it. Nor has it been admitted
here to any great extent, except for the prints of the first period, the
workmanship of which undoubtedly points to the same time. As to
Diirer’s workmanship in general, an examination of his prints will show
that, with increasing command over the burin, he not only strove for
greater regularity of line, but that he developed also the coloristic possi-
bilities of engraving; that is to say, he endeavored, by variety of texture,
which results from difference in treatment, direction, and combination of
lines and dots, to suggest a feeling of color. He was in this a forerunner
of the engravers of the Rubens school, who are usually credited with
being the first colorists with the burin. As these efforts, however, are
more especially noticeable in the dated engravings, and will be pointed
out in the discussion of the individual plates, they need not here be dwelt
upon. It will be sufficient to name as especially characteristic examples,
which may help to make the matter clearer to the student by way of
contrast, “The Virgin and Child with the Monkey” (No. 13 of this cata-
logue) and “The Virgin sitting by a Wall” (No. 75),— the former a fine
specimen of pure black-and-white work, the latter the most developed
example of coloristic engraving in Diirer’s oeuvre. It may be stated,
also, that towards the close of his life he returned again to simpler
methods.
But in spite of all the aids invoked, the sequence of the undated plates
will always remain a subject for discussion. Plates 1-6, as here arranged,
offer no difficulty, so far as workmanship is concerned. No. 2, “ The
Holy Family with the Dragon-fly,” stands apart as regards the design,
in consequence, no doubt, of the influence of Schongauer which is appar-
ent in it, although others, as, for instance, Springer, detect Italian influ-
ences in it. With Nos. 7-10 it is different. The set character of the
lining of the flesh in No. 7, “The Penance of St. John Chrysostom,”
would seem to point to a later time, but the general conception is
rather archaic, and the shape of the monogram supports this conclu-
sion. The beautiful little Madonna, No. 8, stands quite apart in Diirer’s
xvi