16th Century Art in Northern Europe

Albrecht Dürer is a popular artist from Germany. His Italian interests influenced his many works of his art. He was also to take his work to a different level because in Germany there was no guilt system. He has been to Italy a couple of times; on those visits he absorbed the Italian Renaissance art. Durer would also make images for printing press, to do so he used woodcuts and engravings. He becomes famous for his prints and engravings. He also gained knowledge on how to use the influences of Italy in his own art, as you can see in his self-portrait from the 1500.

In his portrait you can see some of the Italian characteristics along with European characteristics. You can see that just like the Italian and European renaissance using humanism, balance and harmony influences his artwork. Albrecht Dürer is very confident in his career. I think you can see that in this self-portrait because it is a very frontal pose and very direct. You can almost say that he has a resemblance to Christ. Another thing that also relates to Christ is the inscription in Latin. Which says something to the effect that the portrait was created with immortal colors. In the self-portrait from 1498 there is no reference to him being an artist. I also think that he uses his work to elevate his social status. In Albrecht Dürer self-portrait you can also see the use of the European traditions of naturalism. You can see this in the way his skin in the painting is so natural looking. He also uses great detail in the curls of his hair to the fur on his robe. The northern European art is characterized by naturalism rather than that idealism of perfection.  You can see that in his work because everything looks as if it more natural and humanized. As you see in the portrait he doesn’t look idealized he looks natural, you can tell when you look at his eyes and his hair. In the self=portrait from 1500 you can see that there is also a sense of balance, even though the pose is direct. You can see his symbol of his initials on one side and on the other there is an inscription on the opposite site. I think those elements help create a pyramidal composition.  I like that Albrecht Dürer has created his own monogram. There aren’t really anymore elements in the background of the portrait from 1500 but the 1498 portrait you can see more Italian renaissance traditions, because in the background you can see a giant window and this creates the 3-quarter pose. The 3-quarter pose is a characteristic of Italian art that has influenced Albrecht Dürer.

In the Albrecht Dürer self-portrait from 1500 you can see that there is a pyramidal composition but there is also that creation of balance and a great use of detail in creating the naturalism of his self-portrait. I think the use of naturalism is the biggest key element Durer used from Italy.