Autorretrato de Durero

Fine gloves, a tasselled cap, long curled hair and a cool, ironic stare: at twenty-six Dürer painted himself as a gentleman, with the Alps glittering through the window behind him.

The story behind the painting

This is the second of Albrecht Dürer's three painted self-portraits, made in oil on wood panel in 1498, after his first journey to Italy. In it, Dürer raises himself to the social position he believed an artist of his ability deserved. For a long time the painting was kept as a companion piece to the Portrait of Dürer's Father at 70. In 1636 the city of Nuremberg gave the two pictures as a pair to Charles I of England, and in 1654 this self-portrait was acquired by Philip IV of Spain. It now hangs in the Museo del Prado in Madrid.

What to look for

Dürer shows himself half-length, under an arch, turned toward us. His hat almost touches the top of the panel, and his arm rests on a ledge below, his crossed fingers hidden in fine silk gloves. Behind him an open window reveals a flat landscape with a lake and distant snow-capped mountains. Light from the window falls along his head, catching his delicate skin and long blond hair. His clothes show Italian fashion: a fine linen shirt trimmed with gold braid, an open doublet, a cloak tied over one shoulder, and a patterned cap with a tassel. The whole picture is about 52 by 41 centimetres.

Meaning and intent

The source describes the pose as almost seductive and the expression as arrogant, the assured confidence of a young artist at the height of his ability. The art historian Marcel Brion read deeper: the painting marks a farewell to an irresponsible youth. The pleasant plain may stand for his travels of 1492-1497, but steep glaciers shadow it, forebodings of the future. Dürer was back in Nuremberg and old enough to take on responsibilities. Years later, in Venice, he would write to his friend Willibald Pirckheimer how he would freeze after this sun, a gentleman abroad and a parasite at home.

Legacy

Brion saw the extravagant costume as a kind of shell, a front the future personality would shed. In the end, the source says, Dürer's fears were misplaced. Soon after his return to Nuremberg he was widely hailed and given a social status equal to that of a wealthy merchant, and the following year he published his Apocalypse. The painting's journey adds to its aura, passing from Nuremberg to an English king and then to a Spanish one. Today in the Prado, the young man at the window still meets every visitor with the same cool gaze, half confident and half searching.

¿Sabías que…?

Painted in 1498, oil on wood panel, 52 × 41 cm
Second of Dürer's three painted self-portraits
Given by Nuremberg to Charles I of England in 1636; acquired by Philip IV of Spain in 1654
Now in the Museo del Prado, Madrid

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