DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52444#0037
INTRODUCTION.
however, the present exhibition is deficient, as it comprises only Diirer’s
work on metal, to the exclusion of the woodcuts, of which there are
about twice as many. When both are examined together, it is easily
recognized how curiously two lines of thought struggle for the mastery
over the artist immediately after his return from his early travels,— the
one showing him to us apparently bent entirely upon the acquisition of
knowledge, and finding expression in such studies of the nude as the
“Four Naked Women” (No. 14) and “The Dream” (No. 15), with the
“Adam and Eve” (No. 34) as its crowning triumph, all engraved by
himself on copper; the other, and finally, in the course of his life, the
conquering one, leading him on to the formulation of his religious con-
victions, through the medium of the woodcut as the more popular
method of communication with the mass of his countrymen, in such
series as the “ Apocalypse,” published in the year 1498,— contempo-
raneously, that is to say, with the studies just alluded to. We would
find, furthermore, that the enigmatical compositions like the “ Hercules ”
(No. 17 of this catalogue) are almost wholly confined to the work on
metal done in his earlier years, while among the woodcuts there is really
only one of a similar character, likewise called “Hercules” (B 127), and
also a work of earlier days. We would be able, again, to trace his early
connection with the humanists; we would note the extended activity
which he displayed when at the height of his powers, in the service of
the Emperor Maximilian, and the position which he made for himself
among the scientific men of his time ; we would recognize,— as, indeed,
we may do also in this exhibition,— the portraits of the celebrated
friends and patrons who remained true to him until the last; and we
would finally see him, at the close of his life, giving to the world the
result of those theoretical studies which, to his help or to his hindrance,
he had followed so assiduously throughout his career. Still more in-
teresting, however, than these reflections of outward events,— and to be
easily detected even in this partial collection of his works,— are the
signs of his inner development, which, in spite of the limitations of his
xix
however, the present exhibition is deficient, as it comprises only Diirer’s
work on metal, to the exclusion of the woodcuts, of which there are
about twice as many. When both are examined together, it is easily
recognized how curiously two lines of thought struggle for the mastery
over the artist immediately after his return from his early travels,— the
one showing him to us apparently bent entirely upon the acquisition of
knowledge, and finding expression in such studies of the nude as the
“Four Naked Women” (No. 14) and “The Dream” (No. 15), with the
“Adam and Eve” (No. 34) as its crowning triumph, all engraved by
himself on copper; the other, and finally, in the course of his life, the
conquering one, leading him on to the formulation of his religious con-
victions, through the medium of the woodcut as the more popular
method of communication with the mass of his countrymen, in such
series as the “ Apocalypse,” published in the year 1498,— contempo-
raneously, that is to say, with the studies just alluded to. We would
find, furthermore, that the enigmatical compositions like the “ Hercules ”
(No. 17 of this catalogue) are almost wholly confined to the work on
metal done in his earlier years, while among the woodcuts there is really
only one of a similar character, likewise called “Hercules” (B 127), and
also a work of earlier days. We would be able, again, to trace his early
connection with the humanists; we would note the extended activity
which he displayed when at the height of his powers, in the service of
the Emperor Maximilian, and the position which he made for himself
among the scientific men of his time ; we would recognize,— as, indeed,
we may do also in this exhibition,— the portraits of the celebrated
friends and patrons who remained true to him until the last; and we
would finally see him, at the close of his life, giving to the world the
result of those theoretical studies which, to his help or to his hindrance,
he had followed so assiduously throughout his career. Still more in-
teresting, however, than these reflections of outward events,— and to be
easily detected even in this partial collection of his works,— are the
signs of his inner development, which, in spite of the limitations of his
xix