Portrait Diptych of Dürer's Parents

''Portrait Diptych of Dürer's Parents'' (or ''Dürer's Parents with Rosaries'') is the collective name for two late-15th century portrait panels by the German painter and printmaker Albrecht Dürer. They show the artist's parents, Barbara Holper () and Albrecht Dürer the Elder (), when she was around 39 and he was 63 years. The portraits are unflinching records of the physical and emotional effects of ageing. The Dürer family was close, and Dürer may have intended the panels either to display his skill to his parentsThausing (2003), 45 or as keepsakes while he travelled soon after as a journeyman painter.

They were created either as pendants, that is conceived as a pair and intended to hang alongside each other, or diptych wings. However, this formation may have been a later conception; Barbara's portrait seems to have been executed some time after her husband's and it is unusual for a husband to be placed to the viewer's right in paired panels. His father's panel is considered the superior work and has been described as one of Dürer's most exact and honest portraits.Brand Philip & Anzelewsky (1978–79), 14 They are among four paintings or drawings Dürer made of his parents, each of which unsentimentally examines the deteriorating effects of age. His later writings contain eulogies for both parents, from which the love and respect he felt toward them are evident.

Each panel measured 47.5 cm x 39.5 cm (18.7 in x 15.6 in), but the left hand panel has been cut down. They have been separated since at least 1628, until Barbara's portrait—long considered lost—was reattributed in 1977. The panels were reunited in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum's 2012 exhibition "The Early Dürer".

Sources and influences

The three-quarter view was widely used in southern German portraiture of the late-15th century. Rosary beads were often included to indicate the piety and modesty of the sitters, although by the 16th century religious motifs and sentiments like this were falling out of fashion. Dürer distinguishes himself from his contemporaries through his tight and detailed focus on his parents' faces, a technique that draws comparison to the work of the first generation of Early Netherlandish painters active 50 years earlier. Albrecht the Elder had travelled to Flanders and from working with Netherlandish artists had acquired a strong appreciation for the work of both Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden. That he passed on this influence to his son is evident from the early use of silverpoint, a medium which according to Erwin Panofsky requires "an exceptional degree of confidence, accuracy and sensitive feeling for its successful handling".

Dürer would have been aware of Hans Pleydenwurff's portrait of the ageing Count Georg von Lowenstein, through his teacher Michael Wolgemut. Pleydenwurff's portrait was in turn likely influenced by van Eyck's 1438 '' Portrait of Cardinal Niccolò Albergati''.Hunter (1993), 207–218 believes the portrait of Dürer's father took from Pleydenwurff's portrait, which she describes as a "highly detailed representation of white haired old man, who defies the pains of growing old with an alert mind and an inner animation".

Von Fircks notes that Dürer's 1484 self-portrait was created with the use of a mirror while his most iconic work is a self-portrait; the 1500 '' Self-Portrait at Twenty-Eight''. From these she concludes that the "accurate observation and documentary recording" of both his own and his parents' appearances over time was not just a compulsion, but that is indicative of a deeper interest in the effects of time and age on human appearance. Although Dürer was fascinated by the effects of ageing on others, he seems to have had some hesitancy at examining how it might affect him personally. The self-portraits tend to be idealised and the 1500 portrait was his last. Later self-portraits are far more understated and executed in a 'secondary' media, such as his drawings of the ''Man of Sorrows'' and nude drawing of 1505, which depicted an emaciated body during the time of the plague.

Description

Albrecht the Elder was 62 or 63 when his panel was painted early in 1490. Barbara's portrait may have been completed soon after, when she would have been around 39. Their son was around 18 and had just completed his apprenticeship with Michael Wolgemut, and would soon leave for Nuremberg to travel as a journeyman painter. The father panel was painted first; for aesthetic reasons Dürer may have waited a year or two until his mother looked older.Brand Philip & Anzelewsky (1978–79), 10

The sitters are presented in three-quarter view before flat, nondescript lacquer-like green backgrounds, which although lushly coloured, are thinly layered.Bartl (1999), 26–31 Each has a white ground and light red imprimatura with lead content.Brand Philip & Anzelewsky (1978–79), 5–18 The sitter's form and pose echo and in many ways counterbalance each other.Price (2003), 22 Brand Philip draws attention to the similarities of the panels' linear construction, especially the manner in which the folds and lines of their clothing form triangular shapes. The train of Barbara's headdress across her chest corresponds with the opening of Albrecht's fur-lined coat. It was more usual in pendant portraits of this type for the male to be on the left-hand side; the positioning here may be an indication that Dürer originally intended his father's panel to stand alone, given that Barbara's was painted some time later.

Albrecht the Elder's panel is regarded as the superior of the two works. This may in part be attributed to differing contemporary treatments of male and female portraits; men were allowed more individuality, while female portraits were bound by stereotypes and were not as daring, for example showing evidence of ageing. In either case, the father painting is far more closely detailed, especially in the lining of clothing, which is summary in Barbara's panel, compared to the long seam of her husband's gown. This contrast in detail can also be seen in the treatment of the rosaries, which are given prominence and a glowing red colour in his panel, but are small and relegated in hers.Kemperdick (2013), 95

Albrecht the Elder's panel is usually, but not always, thought to be the first of the two to be executed and, if so, is the earliest extant example of his son's painting. In contrast, a number of art historians have noted that his mother's portrait contains bland passages, especially around the eyes and may be a near-contemporary copy of a lost original.Brand Philip & Anzelewsky (1978–79), 5 Lotte Brand Philip believes the clumsiness in the mother panel indicated that Dürer painted it first, as a youthful attempt at portraiture, and that Albrecht the Elder might have later "commissioned" his own portrait to pair with Barbara's.Brand Philip & Anzelewsky (1978–79), 17 Recent technical examination of the two panels confirms that Barbara's portrait was painted later than her husband's.Kemperdick (2013), 95

Barbara Holper

Barbara Holper was the daughter of Hieronymus Holper, under whom Albrecht the Elder served his apprenticeship as a goldsmith.Brion (1960), 16 The two men became friends, and when she came of age Holper gave his daughter into marriage when Dürer senior was 40 and she was 15. The couple were compatible, well-matched and fond of each other. Yet their son's writings detail their difficult lives and many setbacks; three of their 18 children survived into adulthood – 17 of whom had been born by the time of this portrait.Brand Philip & Anzelewsky (1978–79), 11 After her husband died Barbara was destitute and went to live with her son.Kemperdick (2013), 94 After she in turn died in 1514, her son wrote "This my pious Mother ... often had the plague and many other severe and strange illnesses, and she suffered great poverty, scorn, contempt, mocking words, terrors, and great adversities. Yet she bore no malice. Also she died hard ... I felt so grieved for her that I cannot express it."Sturge Moore (1905), 71

Barbara is shown wearing a red dress and a matte white bonnet which fully covers her hair, indicating her marital status. Her headdress is draped with a long scarf or train which stretches down her neck and across her left shoulder, contrasting in colour and shape against the black headwear of her husband. The lines of her face contain touches of white paint to give a highlighting and enlivening effect; they are especially evident around her eyes, the bridge of her nose and around her upper lip. Barbara was attractive in her youth; her son described her as having been "comely and of erect bearing".Brand Philip & Anzelewsky (1978–79), 12 However, by the time of this portrait the effects of time and losing so many children weigh heavily on her face. The panel was grounded with white paint, while the composition seems to have changed significantly from the imprimatura. Faint traces of the original figuration are visible in parts of the background and in the darkened areas of her hood. At some point the panel was cut down at the left side, shifting the compositional balance and removing a portion of her shoulder and headdress.

The panel closely resembles Dürer's 1514 drawing '' Portrait of the artist's mother at the age of 63''. David Price writes of the drawing's "rough depiction of her flesh emaciated by old age", and the "existential piety in the cast of Barbara Dürer's right eye, which, almost unnaturally, directs her vision heavenward". Although Barbara is some 25 years older in the later drawing and by then terminally ill, the facial resemblance and pose are unmistakable. However, there is a dramatic difference between the relatively young looking 39-year-old woman in the diptych and the aged and terminally ill widow in the 1514 drawing. A family resemblance can be detected between both works and Dürer's Vienna self-portrait; most evidently around the mouth. Kemperdick concludes that these passages are so closely modeled that it is reasonable to presume they were drawn by the same hand, but is conservative in saying definitively that the sitters were related by blood, as Dürer was very young, and though precociously talented, to some extent still reliant on facial "types".

Albrecht Dürer the Elder

Dürer's father wears a dark shirt, russet coat and a black hat lined with fur. His skin is slack at the mouth and chin, and he has small, intelligent eyes, which Von Fircks describes as "dark and serious". Their curves echo those of the heavy lids beneath.Von Fircks (2011), 419 His eyes are lined with crow's feet and shadowed with brown hatched paint. His facial features are built from brush strokes more typical of drawing than painting—at this young age Dürer was a far more skilled draughtsman than painter. Technical analysis carried out in 2013 by Dagmar Hirschfelder revealed a detailed background which was over-painted by the artist.Sander (2013), 18 The abandoned interior space consisted of a corner of a room with an arched window looking out to a countryside view. This type of interior can be traced to the Netherlandish tradition, and is rare in German portraiture of the period.Kemperdick (2013), 98

Albrecht the Elder's lips are thin and tightly pursed and his mouth is broad and down-turned, yet his features are those of a handsome man. Marcel Brion described him as appearing "mild and thoughtful", an impression reinforced by the uncomplicated design of the painting.Brion (1960), 20 This view is reinforced by the relative drabness or simplicity of his clothes, which seem intended to convey a reserved, ascetic piousness. Dürer presents his father more like a low-ranking ecclesiastic