The ''Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand'' is an oil painting by

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...

, dating to 1508 and now at the

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( "Museum of Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, it is crowned with an octagonal do ...

of Vienna, Austria. It is signed on a cartouche which hangs from the artist's self-portrait in the center, saying ''Iste faciebat Ano Domini 1508 Albertus Dürer Aleman''.

History

The painting was commissioned by

Frederick III, Elector of Saxony Frederick III (17 January 1463 – 5 May 1525), also known as Frederick the Wise (German ''Friedrich der Weise''), was Elector of Saxony from 1486 to 1525, who is mostly remembered for the worldly protection of his subject Martin Luther. Freder ...

for the All Saints' Church, Wittenberg. Frederick had been Dürer's patron since 1496. He himself chose the subject, as his collection of relics included some of the Ten thousand martyrs. Dürer had used the same subject for a woodcut of some ten years before, but in the new work he eliminated some macabre details such as the torture of the bishop Acacius, having his eyes stripped through a drill. This scene was replaced by a crucifixion on the right and by the presence of the bishop in chains behind it. The work was repeatedly mentioned in the correspondence between the artist and

Jakob Heller Jakob Heller (c. 1460 — 28 January 1522) was a German patrician, politician, and merchant. He was born and died in Frankfurt am Main, and served as Senior Bürgermeister of the Free City of Frankfurt in 1501 and 1513. Heller is best remembered ...

of Frankfurt. Dürer received 280

florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...

s for it.

Description

The painting illustrates the legendary martyrdom of ten thousand Christian soldiers perpetrated on Mount Ararat by the King of Persia, Shapur I, by the order of the Roman emperor

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...

or Antoninus Pius, or, according to other sources,

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

. Dürer painted numerous different martyrdom scenes within a forest with clearings and cliffs. In the foreground are crucifixions, decapitations, crushing with a hammer. The Persian King is portrayed as an Ottoman sultan, riding a horse on the right. The executioners also wear gaudy

Ottoman dress Ottoman clothing or Ottoman fashion is the style and design of clothing worn during the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman period While the Palace and its court dressed lavishly, the common people were only concerned with covering themselves. Starting ...

. In the background are prisoners walking through to a cliff from where they are thrown down against rocks and thorny bushes, as well as scenes of fighting, stoning and hitting with huge clubs. At the center of the crowded scene, dressed in black, are two characters who walk placidly, apparently unaware of the horrors around them: one is Dürer's self-portrait (holding his signature), the other his friend and humanist

Conrad Celtes Conrad Celtes (german: Konrad Celtes; la, Conradus Celtis (Protucius); 1 February 1459 – 4 February 1508) was a German Renaissance humanist scholar and poet of the German Renaissance born in Franconia (nowadays part of Bavaria). He led the ...

, who had died a few months before the execution of the painting.

References

Sources

External links

Page at the museum's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand Paintings by Albrecht Dürer 1508 paintings Paintings in the Kunsthistorisches Museum Self-portraits Religious paintings Paintings about death Christian art about death Dogs in art Horses in art category:Paintings of Saint Maurice Mount Ararat

History

Description

See also

References

Sources

External links