Durer
The Adoration of the Trinity
The Renaissance, a French word for rebirth, which began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, changed the way people thought about themselves and their world. The scholars of this time developed an interest in the learning and arts of the classical past of Greece and Rome, and this interest became the main focus of the humanist movement. The humanists, in reviving the ancients, turned away from the preoccupation of the Middle Ages with the afterlife and towards a view of man as an individual in this life and how he fit in society. This new view along with looking at beauty in nature and new techniques led to changes in the arts from about 1300-1600.¹
Among the
first northerners to visit Italy, learn about the new ideas and apply this
knowledge of the Italian Renaissance was Nuremberg artist Albrecht Durer
(1471-1528), one of the greatest and most respected artists of the Northern
Renaissance. As apprentice to his father, a goldsmith, and Wolgemut,
Nuremberg’s leading painter and woodcut illustrator, Durer learned painting and
other skills that would set him apart as one of the first to become a master
woodcutter and engraver, and who is still thought of as one of the best even
today. Afterward, he set up his own independent workshop in 1490 that allowed
him to experiment with his work. In 1495 and again in 1505-7, Durer
traveled to Venice to study the great masters who influenced his art. The
watercolors drawn along the way on his early journey became the first important
landscapes in Europe and showed his early passion for nature.² Durer was also
the court painter for Emperor Maximillian.
Durer was dedicated to helping artists in the North to see themselves not just as craftsmen but as professional artists. He and other artist believed this could be accomplished by improving their technical skills, especially in perspective and proportion, and by writing theories about art called treatises. His most important treatise is on human proportion.³ Durer took a special interest in the works of Bellini and Mantegna, the leading artists in Venice, studied ancient scholars, and had friends who were humanists. Durer took the influences of the Italian Renaissance back to Germany and northern Europe. This caused northern Europe to also be influenced by the Italian Renaissance. Durer is also known as one of the greatest artists with woodcuts and engravings as well as for his original drawings and painting s and he influenced the Italians with these skills.
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A self portrait of Durer. In this painting he draws the viewers attention to his hands and eyes by using contrast because they were his "God-given" gifts.4 |
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http://www.aiwaz.net/durer/autoportraits/durer.jpg
http://durer0001.tripod.com/Adoration_of_the_Trinity.jpg
One painting that Durer is famous for is the Adoration of the Trinity. Durer created this altarpiece for the All Saints chapel in the Old Men's Home for artists for his patron, Matthaus Landaeur. Because of this he chose to paint the crucifixion of Christ which was one of the most popular religious images. This painting shows many characteristics from the new Renaissance style but still leaves traces of the elegance, grace and detail of his German Gothic style. The painting shows Christ on the cross held by God. Above, is a dove that symbolizes the Holy Ghost, completing the Trinity. They float in the sky that becomes heaven surrounded by angels, saints, Old testament figures, clergy and laypeople.
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On the left of the painting are martyrs and in the front is Mary. On the right of the painting are prophets and other characters from the Old Testament, led by John the Baptist. They all float among clouds in the sky. This is a typical placement of Mary and John and was used by other artists of the time as well. |
http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/d/durer/1/07/index.html
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Other characteristic of the Renaissance are individualism and realism. These were very new ideas because in the art of the Middle Ages the individual was far less important than God, and religion dominated the artwork. Individuals were not usually painted and when they were they were unrealistic and all looked the same. However, as represented in the Adoration of the Trinity, this idea was changing. For example, there are individual faces on the saints and prophets and they all look realistic so their features and proportions are very human-like. They also have individual faces that are all different rather than looking the same. In this painting, Durer included the client this work was for, being welcomed by a cardinal. The figure in the far right corner on Earth is a self portrait of Durer. You can also see realism in the way the clothes look like they are moving and the people are looking around rather than completely stiff. However, most of the figures are looking at Christ and the angels are still fairly stiff. This shows that realism was a newer idea and the old style of painting had not completely changed, but that Durer was trying new ideas in some parts of his painting. |
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http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/d/durer/1/07/index.html
The painting is extremely well-balanced and symmetrical, both of which were characteristics of the Renaissance. Christ, God and the Holy Ghost are directly in the center of the painting. There are angels around them on the outsides. Other people and angles are placed so that one side mirrors the other, creating balance. However, many of the paintings main ideas were still religious. In this painting at the center and most important, is the subject of Jesus, God and the Holy Ghost.
A technique that began during the Renaissance and changed art was perspective. During earlier times, everything seemed to be on the same level and nothing really seemed close up or far away to the viewer. However, perspective can be seen in Durer’s painting. The bottom angels appear very close to us because they are so much bigger than the other subjects in the painting. As you go farther and farther back in the painting, the forms become less clear and much smaller which gives the feeling that they are very far away from the viewer and gives them the sense of scale, distance and dimension even though it is a two dimensional painting. This was a big change that allowed painting to become more and more realistic.
In addition to using perspective to make the depth and distance look right, Durer also shows the Greek and Roman ideals of beauty and harmony, by using proportion to make his figures look real. The viewer can see the beauty of each figure and the way they relate to each other, too. The figures in each group such as the clergy and the laypeople relate in group, size, proportion and positioning not only to themselves but to Christ as well. Durer uses geometry to measure the parts of the body, such as the knee to the foot, and then uses these parts to see how they relate to the whole figure. He also shows harmony by the way he arranges the figures with the Trinity at the top, the heavenly figures just below, the living people under them and the landscape on Earth at the bottom. During the Renaissance, beauty of the human figure and nature were highly valued. In this painting, the viewer can see this by the landscape at the bottom of the painting and by the perfect proportions of all the people.5
The use of vibrant color was another change that happened. Instead of being dark, the paintings began to have more colors that were brighter. In this painting, there are many colors and and many of them are bright such as the reds of the capes and the yellow around the dove. Many of the colors are also very light and not as dark and heavy which creates the illusion that the subjects are floating in the clouds high in the sky.
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The Adoration of the Trinity also had a large and intricate
frame around the painting designed by Durer. The painting is oil on wood
which was ahead of its time and was not widely used until much later.
The frame is made of carved and painted wood and shows the Last
Judgment. The frame has been separated from this painting now and
is in a museum in
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http://durer0001.tripod.com/Adoration_of_the_Trinity.jpg
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Endnotes
¹ Sara Elliott, Italian Renaissance Painting (New York: Phaidon Press Inc., 1993) 5.
² Theodore Rabb, Renaissance Lives (New York: Pantheon Books, 1993) 52-64.
³ Alison Cole, The Renaissance (New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1994) 32.
4 Cole 7.
5 Cole 30.
Bibliography
"Adoration of the Trinity." Picture Gallery. 14 Jan. 2007
<http://www.khm.at/staticE/page442.html>.
"Art and Architecture." The New Book of Knowledge. Danbury: Grolier Incorporated,
1995.
Campbell, Gordon. Ranaissance Art and Architecture. New York: Oxford UP, 2004.
Cole, Allison. The Renaissance. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1994.
Dunkerton, Jill, Susan Foister, Dillian Gordon, and Nicholas Penny. Giotto to Durer.
New Haven: Yale UP, 1991.
Elliott, Sara. Italian Renaissance Painting. New York: Phaidon Press Inc., 1993.
Kren, Emil, and Daniel Marx. "Durer, Albrecht." Web Gallery of Art. 20 Jan. 2007
<http://www.wga.hu/html/d/durer/1/07/landaeu.html>.
Rabb,
Theodore. Renaissance Lives. New York: Pantheon Books, 1993.