Albrecht Dürer and the Protestant Reformation

Albrecht Dürer and the Renaissance

Albrecht Dürer was a renowned German artist during the Renaissance period. He worked in many mediums including painting and charcoal, but he was most well-known for his printmaking. Dürer was originally from Germany, but he was heavily influenced by Italy and the Italian Renaissance. He traveled to Italy at least twice in his life and witnessed some of the great works of the Renaissance and met some of the great artists and influences of the time, including Erasmus, Philipp Melanchthron, and Willibald Pirkheimer. He began to integrate his Italian influences into his art while maintaining underlying forms of the North. Humanism was on the rise and it definitely had an impact on Dürer. After his time in Italy, he became increasingly interested in the human form. This was reflected in many of his artistic works which portrayed very detailed and realistic human figures.  It also extended into his theoretical interests and he went on to write Four Books of Human Proportion.

The Four Apostles and Dürer’s involvement in the Protestant Reformation

Albrecht Dürer, The Four Apostles, 1526, oil on wood, 7′ 1″ x 2′ 6″ (Alte Pinakothek, Munich)

Dürer was also very interested in the theoretical and religious changes that were happening during the Renaissance, particularly the Protestant Reformation. Marin Luther and his ideas had a big impact on Dürer. He even converted from Catholicism to Protestant, following Martin Luther’s ideas rather than the Pope. This influence can easily be seen in his piece The Four Apostles. This painting was completed in 1526 in Dürer’s hometown of Nuremberg and it features four of the apostles. John and Paul are the dominant figures, taking up most of the front of the painting, and were two of Martin Luther’s favorites. The two figures in the left of the painting, John and Peter, are both focusing on the bible in John’s hands. Peter was the apostle that was most associated with the papacy and it can be seen that he is somewhat hidden behind John and his bible. He seems to blend into the shadows more and is wearing darker colors in contrast to John’s bright colored clothing which draws the viewer’s eye. This is likely Dürer’s way of showing the growing importance and popularity of Protestantism and his move away from the Catholic Church. Peter also seems to even be peering over John’s shoulder to read, his eyes cast down and focusing on the bible in John’s hands. Paul on the right side of the painting is also holding a large bible and staring out at the viewer. This focus of the Apostles on the bible really exemplifies the ideas of Lutheranism, which focused on the bible for salvation rather than the practices of the church, including costly payments to the papacy to ensure entry into heaven.

In the left panel, Peter can been seen holding a large gold key which represents the church’s power of ‘unlocking’ heaven for people, but despite holding this ornate key, he is reading the bible with John, signifying the transition from the church’s importance in people’s faith to the bibles importance. Luther thought that religion and the bible should be given back to the people, which is why he translated it from Latin to German. This allowed the public to read the word of God rather than only monks. A part of this German translation even made it into Dürer’s The Four Apostles and can be seen at the bottom of the painting. This is probably the most obvious sign of Lutheran influence over Dürer and this piece of artwork.

After the paintings completion, he gave it to the Nuremberg’s town council, rather than completing it for a commission as he had previously done with his art in other areas of Europe. This was because Protestant churches don’t commission works of art, so Dürer was not directly commissioned or paid for the painting. He believed so much in the Protestant Reformation that he created and donated this piece without being officially paid for it.

Personal Thoughts and Reflection

Personally, I am not very fond of the layout of this piece, but I can see why Dürer chose to depict it this way for both its religious meaning and for its purposes in the Nuremberg town council. To me, the figures and the organization of the painting feel very cramped, like they’ve all been force to stand too close together in a small space. None of the figures bodies or clothing is out of frame and the edges of the painting align incredibly close to the edges of the figures, which in my opinion creates a boxed in feeling. I do really appreciate the mirroring of the figures on each side though. I think this was likely organized in this way to create a balanced display within the town council. John and Paul are both facing inwards and they are both holding bibles at the same level and wearing long, draping clothing. Even the heads of the two apostles behind them are about at the same level within the painting. This creates a nice balance and contrast/comparison of the two sides of the painting for the viewer and I think it would have looked very good on display in the church.

Probably my favorite aspect of this painting is the symbolism that Dürer included in the piece. I really enjoyed his ability to subtly emphasize Protestantism and downplay Catholicism in a painting that does not seem to have very much happening within it. There is no huge action happening or miraculous godly display about the Protestant Reformation, but a closer inspection on the piece allows us to see the quiet ways Dürer makes this a definite Protestant painting. The emphasis on the bibles was beautifully done, with a lot of different parts drawing our focus to them. The eye-line of Peter and John both reading the bible draw our eye down and we look to see what they are looking at. Even Peter’s gold key and some of the folds in the fabric of John’s outfit seems to point to the bible, particularly the red contrasted against the green across his arm and chest, and the bits of gold peeking out on the inside edges of the slightly lifted robe. The white pages of the bible are also the brightest part of the left half of the painting which really makes it pop out.

The bible emphasis is less obvious on the right side of the painting, but is still there. The book that Paul is holding is not open, but it is large and somewhat overbearing. It takes up a lot more space than John’s small bible. It is thick with leather binding and his stern stare out of the painting at the viewers gives the impression that he is quite protective of it, as does the sword in his other hand.

Sources

Albrecht Dürer, The Four Apostles, 1526, oil on wood, 7′ 1″ x 2′ 6″ (Alte Pinakothek, Munich)

Wisse, Jacob. “Albrecht Dürer (1471–-1528).” Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, n.d. Web. 10 June 2015. <http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/durr/hd_durr.htm>

Zucker, Steven, and Beth Harris. “Dürer, Four Apostles.” Khan Academy. N.p., 10 Nov. 2012. Web. 11 June 2015. <https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/northern/durer/v/d-rer-the-four-apostles-1526>