The Four Apostles
The Four Apostles is a panel painting by the German Renaissance master Albrecht Dürer. It was finished in 1526, and is the last of his large works. It depicts the four apostles larger-than-life-size. The Bavarian Elector Maximilian I obtained The Four Apostles in the year 1627 due to pressure on the Nuremberg city fathers. Since then, the painting has been in Munich, in the Alte Pinakothek, and, despite all the efforts of Nuremberg since 1806, it has not been returned to Dürer's hometown.
Synopsis
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Smarthistory – Dürer's The Four Apostles |
Saints John and Peter are depicted in the left panel; the figures in the right panel are Saints Mark and Paul. The former are shown reading from the opening page of John's own Gospel, and the latter both appear alert, however only Paul, the father of Theology, seems to have recognized the spectator. At the bottom of each panel, quotations from the Bible are inscribed.[1]
The apostles are recognizable by their symbols:
- St. John the Evangelist: open book
- St. Peter: keys
- St. Mark: scroll
- St. Paul: sword and closed book
They are also associated with the four temperaments:
- St. John: sanguine
- St. Peter: phlegmatic
- St. Mark: choleric
- St. Paul: melancholic
Historical context
The Four Apostles was created during the Reformation, begun in 1517 and having the largest initial impact on Germany. Some Protestants believed that icons were contradictory to the Word of God, which was held in the utmost supremacy over, thus some Protestant churches would not patron any sacred art. Many aspects of the image depicted prove significant in light of the Reformation itself.[1] Durer placed Peter, often held as the symbol of the papacy, behind John the Evangelist. Both men read from the Scriptures, which Luther upheld as the sole authority for doctrine in the Church. Durer also placed quotations from Luther's translation of the German New Testament on the panel beneath the Apostles.[2]
This painting has had many speculations as to Durer's intentions, one being that it was his way of creating a sort of worthy legacy piece.[3] When Dürer moved back to Nuremberg he produced many famous paintings there, including several self-portraits. He gave The Four Apostles to the town council.
See also
- List of paintings by Albrecht Dürer
- Portrait of Jakob Muffel - A Dürer painting of the same year
References
- ^ a b "Dürer's Four Apostles". Smarthistory at Khan Academy. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
- ^ Gardner's Art through the Ages: A Global History, Fourteenth Edition, Volume II by Fred S. Kleiner, 2013 (p. 652)
- ^ Christensen, Carl C. (1967). "Durer's 'Four Apostles' and the Dedication as a Form of Renaissance Art Patronage". Renaissance Quarterly. 20 (3): 325–334. doi:10.2307/2859654. ISSN 0034-4338. JSTOR 2859654. S2CID 191401164.
External links
Media related to Four Apostles by Dürer at Wikimedia Commons
- v
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- Portrait Diptych of Dürer's Parents (1490)
- Portrait of Frederick III of Saxony (1496)
- St. Jerome in the Wilderness (c. 1496)
- Portrait of Dürer's Father at 70 (1497)
- Haller Madonna/Lot and His Daughters (c. 1498)
- Lamentation of Christ (Nuremberg) (attributed, c. 1498)
- Hercules Killing the Stymphalian Birds (1500)
- Seven Sorrows Polyptych (c. 1500)
- Lamentation of Christ (Munich) (c. 1500)
- Jabach Altarpiece (1503–1504)
- Adoration of the Magi (1504)
- Bagnacavallo Madonna (before 1505)
- Christ Among the Doctors (1506)
- Portrait of a Young Venetian Woman (1505)
- Feast of the Rosary (1506)
- Avarice (1507)
- Adam and Eve (1507)
- Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand (1508)
- The Suicide of Lucretia (1518)
- Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (1519)
- Portrait of Emperor Maximilian I (1519)
- Portrait of Jakob Fugger (c. 1520)
- Portrait of Bernhart von Reesen (1521)
- Saint Jerome in His Study (1521)
- The Four Apostles (1526)
- Portrait of Hieronymus Holzschuher (1526)
- Portrait of Johann Kleberger (1526)
- Portrait of Jakob Muffel (1526)
- Self-Portrait at the Age of 13 (drawing, 1484)
- Portrait of the Artist Holding a Thistle (1493)
- Self-Portrait at 26 (1498)
- Self-Portrait at 28 (1500)
engravings
- List of woodcuts, engravings
- The Holy Family with the Dragonfly (1495)
- The Holy Family with Three Hares (1496)
- Apocalypse (1498)
- Saint Michael Fighting the Dragon (1498)
- The Four Witches (1497)
- The Sea Monster (1498–1500)
- Saint Sebastian at the Column (1500)
- Visitation (1503)
- Joachim and Anne Meeting at the Golden Gate (1504)
- Great Passion (1497–1510)
- Life of the Virgin (1510–1511)
- Small Passion (1511)
- Knight, Death and the Devil (1513)
- Melencolia I (1514)
- Saint Jerome in His Study (1514)
- Triumphal Arch (1515)
- Rhinoceros (1515)
- Large Triumphal Carriage (1522)
- Portrait of Erasmus (1526)
watercolours
- Young Hare (1502)
- Great Piece of Turf (1503)
- Madonna of the Animals (c. 1503)
- Praying Hands (c. 1508)
- Wing of a European Roller (1512)
- Portrait of the Artist's Mother at the Age of 63 (1514)
- Head of a Walrus (1514)
- The Virgin and Child with a Flower on a Grassy Bench (c. 1503)
- Dresden Altarpiece (c. 1496–1497/1503–1504)
- Paumgartner Altarpiece (c. 1500)
- Jabach Altarpiece (c. 1503–1504)
- Heller Altarpiece (c. 1508) (with Matthias Grünewald)
- Adoration of the Trinity (1511)
- Alte Pinakothek (Self-Portrait) (2000 photograph)
- Dürer (crater)