Portrait of the artist's mother at the age of 63
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Portrait of the artist's mother at the age of 63 (German: Bildnis der Mutter mit 63 Jahren) is a charcoal
drawing from March 1514 by the German printmaker and painter Albrecht Dürer
, now in the Kupferstichkabinett
, Berlin. It is a tender but unflinching study of his mother, Barbara Holfer (c. 1451–1514), finished two months before she died. Dürer was close to his mother and after her death wrote that she had "died hard" and that "I felt so grieved for her that I cannot express it". In its bleakness of mood, the drawing has been compared to his two great 1514 engravings, Melencolia I
and Madonna by the Wall.
It is the second portrait Dürer painted of Holfer; the c. 1490 oil on oak panel painting now in Nuremberg is today generally accepted to be either an original or a copy of a lost original portrait of Holfer. It was bought in c. 1877 by the Kupferstichkabinett from the Firmin-Didot auction house in Paris, during a period of acquisition of over 35 Dürer drawings by the gallery.
Art historian Christa Grössinger describes the drawing as the "most affecting of all" of Dürer's portraits. David Price wrote of it's "rough depiction of her flesh emaciated by old age", and "existential piety in the cast of Barbara Dürer's right eye, which, almost unnaturally, directs her vision heavenward."
The drawing is inscribed at the top with the year 1514. Large text to the top right reads, "This is Albrecht Dürer's mother when she was 63", while in smaller lettering just below these Dürer inscribes "and she passed away in the year 1514, on Tuesday before Rogation Week (May 16), about two hours before nightfall".
served his apprenticeship as a goldsmith. Albrecht Dürer most likely lived in the Holper household during his apprenticeship and saw his master's daughter grow from a child to a woman. Hieronymus Holper gave
his daughter into marriage when Dürer's father was 40 and she was 15. Although they appear have been compatible and well-matched, according to their son they shared difficult lives and many set-backs. They had 18 children together, beginning in 1468 and ending in 1492, only two of whom survived into adulthood. Dürer biographer Jane Hutchinson suggests that Barbara Holper may have been trained and worked as a goldsmith.
After her death Dürer wrote, "This my pious Mother bore and brought up eighteen children; she 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. She feared Death much, but she said that to come before God she feared not. Also she died hard, and I marked that she saw something dreadful, for she asked for the holy-water, although, for a long time, she had not spoken. Immediately afterwards her eyes closed over. I saw also how Death smote her two great strokes to the heart, and how she closed mouth and eyes and departed with pain. I repeated to her the prayers. I felt so grieved for her that I cannot express it. God be merciful to her."
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
drawing from March 1514 by the German printmaker and painter Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
, now in the Kupferstichkabinett
Kupferstichkabinett
Kupferstichkabinett is the German word for print room. It may also refer to:*Kupferstichkabinett Berlin*Kupferstich-Kabinett...
, Berlin. It is a tender but unflinching study of his mother, Barbara Holfer (c. 1451–1514), finished two months before she died. Dürer was close to his mother and after her death wrote that she had "died hard" and that "I felt so grieved for her that I cannot express it". In its bleakness of mood, the drawing has been compared to his two great 1514 engravings, Melencolia I
Melencolia I
Melencolia I is a 1514 engraving by the German Renaissance master Albrecht Dürer. It is an allegorical composition which has been the subject of many interpretations...
and Madonna by the Wall.
It is the second portrait Dürer painted of Holfer; the c. 1490 oil on oak panel painting now in Nuremberg is today generally accepted to be either an original or a copy of a lost original portrait of Holfer. It was bought in c. 1877 by the Kupferstichkabinett from the Firmin-Didot auction house in Paris, during a period of acquisition of over 35 Dürer drawings by the gallery.
Description
Dürer presents his mother with a stark realism that at first view might seem cruel or grotesque if he had not left behind written record of his affection for her. Her face is emaciated to the point of appearing skeletal, her skin deeply wrinkled and shadowed, and her eys almost detached from her face, seeingly looking up towards a deep void of despair. But his written record of his thoughts about both his parents are deeply compassionate, sympathetic and caring, and it is accepted that the portrait is a sensitive study of the ravishing of old age and illness on a person he cared about.Art historian Christa Grössinger describes the drawing as the "most affecting of all" of Dürer's portraits. David Price wrote of it's "rough depiction of her flesh emaciated by old age", and "existential piety in the cast of Barbara Dürer's right eye, which, almost unnaturally, directs her vision heavenward."
The drawing is inscribed at the top with the year 1514. Large text to the top right reads, "This is Albrecht Dürer's mother when she was 63", while in smaller lettering just below these Dürer inscribes "and she passed away in the year 1514, on Tuesday before Rogation Week (May 16), about two hours before nightfall".
Barbara Holper
Barbara Holper was the daughter of Hieronymus Holper, under whom Dürer's Hungarian fatherPortrait of Dürer's Father at 70
Portrait of Dürer's Father at 70 is a 1497 oil on lime painting attributed to the German painter and printmaker Albrecht Dürer, now in the National Gallery, London. Along with the 1490 Albrecht Dürer the Elder with a Rosary, it is the second of two portraits of the artist's Hungarian father...
served his apprenticeship as a goldsmith. Albrecht Dürer most likely lived in the Holper household during his apprenticeship and saw his master's daughter grow from a child to a woman. Hieronymus Holper gave
Arranged marriage
An arranged marriage is a practice in which someone other than the couple getting married makes the selection of the persons to be wed, meanwhile curtailing or avoiding the process of courtship. Such marriages had deep roots in royal and aristocratic families around the world...
his daughter into marriage when Dürer's father was 40 and she was 15. Although they appear have been compatible and well-matched, according to their son they shared difficult lives and many set-backs. They had 18 children together, beginning in 1468 and ending in 1492, only two of whom survived into adulthood. Dürer biographer Jane Hutchinson suggests that Barbara Holper may have been trained and worked as a goldsmith.
After her death Dürer wrote, "This my pious Mother bore and brought up eighteen children; she 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. She feared Death much, but she said that to come before God she feared not. Also she died hard, and I marked that she saw something dreadful, for she asked for the holy-water, although, for a long time, she had not spoken. Immediately afterwards her eyes closed over. I saw also how Death smote her two great strokes to the heart, and how she closed mouth and eyes and departed with pain. I repeated to her the prayers. I felt so grieved for her that I cannot express it. God be merciful to her."
Sources
- Brion, MarcelMarcel BrionMarcel Brion was a French essayist, literary critic, novelist, and historian. -Biography:The son of a lawyer, Brion was classmates in Thiers with Marcel Pagnol and Albert Cohen. After completing his secondary education in Champittet, Switzerland, he studied law at the University of Aix-en-Provence...
. Dürer. London: Thames and Hudson, 1960 - Hutchinson, Jane Campbell. Albrecht Dürer: A Biography. Princeton University Press, 1990. ISBN 0-691-03978-X
- Price, David. Albrecht Dürer's Renaissance: Humanism, Reformation and the Art of Faith. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2003. ISBN 0-4721-1343-7
- Sturge Moore, Thomas. Albert Dürer. Kessinger Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-4191-0533-7
- Tatlock, Lynne. "Enduring Loss in Early Modern Germany". Brill Academic Publishers, 2010. 116. ISBN 9-0041-8454-6