,department ,digital ,library4 ,transcriber's note3 ,the printing errors of the original have been retained in this etext4 ,,albert ,d,,rer ,,by ,t4 ,,sturge ,,moore ,,preface ,when the late ,mr4 ,arthur ,strong asked me to undertake the present volume1 ,i pointed out to him that1 to fulfil the advertised programme of the ,series he was editing1 was more than could be hoped from my attainments4 ,he replied1 that in the case of ,drer a book1 fulfilling that programme1 was not called for1 and that what he wished me to attempt1 was an appreciation of this great artist in relation to general ideas4 ,i had hoped to benefit very largely by my editor's advice and supervision1 but this his illness and death prevented4 ,his great gifts and brilliant accomplishments1 already darkened and distressed by disease1 were all too soon to be utterly quenched2 and ,i can but here express1 not only my sense of personal loss in the hopes which his friendly welcome and generous intercourse had created and which have been so cruelly dashed by the event1 but also that of the void which his disappearance has left in the too thin ranks of those who1 filled with reverence and enthusiasm for the great traditions of the past1 seem nevertheless eager and capable of grappling with the unwieldy present4 ,let and restricted had been the recognition of his maturing worth1 and now we must do without both him and the impetus of his so nearly assured success4 ,the present volume1 then1 is not the result of new research2 nor is it an abstract resuming historical and critical discoveries on its subject up to date4 ,of this latter there are several already before the ,british public2 the former1 as ,i said1 it was not for me to attempt4 ,nor do ,i feel my book to be altogether even what it was intended to be2 but am conscious that too much space has been given to the enumeration of ,drer's principal works and the events of his life without either being made exhaustive4 ,still1 ,i hope that even these parts may be found profitable by those who are not already familiar with the subjects with which they deal4 ,to those for whom these subjects are well known1 ,i should like to point out that ,parts ,i4 and ,,iv4 and very much of ,part ,,iii4 embody my chief intention2 that chapter #a of ,part ,i4 finds a further illustration in division iii4 of chapter #d1 ,part ,,ii42 and that division vi41 chapter #a1 ,part ,,ii41 should be taken as prefatory to chapter #a1 ,part ,,iv4 ,should exception be taken to the works chosen as illustrations1 ,i would explain that the means of reproduction1 the degree of reduction necessitated by the size of the page1 and other outside considerations1 have severely limited my choice4 ,it is entirely owing to the extreme kindness of the ,drer ,society--more especially of its courteous and enthusiastic secretaries1 ,mr4 ,campbell ,dodgson and ,mr4 ,peartree--that four copper-plates have so greatly enhanced the adequacy of the volume in this respect4 ,i have gratefully to acknowledge ,sir ,martin ,conway's kindness in permitting me to quote so liberally from his ,literary ,remains of ,albrecht ,drer1 by far the best book on this great artist known to me4 ,mr4 ,charles ,eaton's translation of ,thausing's ,life of ,drer1 the ,portfolios of the ,drer ,society1 and ,dr4 ,lippmanb ,drawings of ,albrecht ,drer1 are the only other works on my subject to which ,i feel bound to acknowledge my indebtedness4 ,lastly1 ,i must express deep gratitude to my learned friend1 ,mr4 ,campbell ,dodgson1 for having so generously consented1 by reading the proofs1 to mitigate my defect in scholarship4 ,,contents ,,preface ,,part ,i ,,concerning ,,general ,,ideas ,,important ,,to ,,the ,,comprehension ,,of ,d,,rer',s ,,life ,,and ,,art ,i4 ,,the ,,idea ,,of ,,proportion ,,ii ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,religion ,,on ,,the ,,creative ,,impulse ,,part ,,ii ,d,,rer',s ,,life ,,in ,,relation ,,to ,,the ,,times ,,in ,,which ,,he ,,lived ,i4 ,d,,rer',s ,,origin1 ,,youth1 ,,and ,,education ,,ii4 ,,the ,,world ,,in ,,which ,,he ,,lived ,,iii4 ,d,,rer ,,at ,,venice ,,iv4 ,,his ,,patrons ,,and ,,friends ,v4 ,d,,rer1 ,,luther1 ,,and ,,the ,,humanists ,,vi4 ,d,,rer',s ,,journey ,,to ,,the ,,netherlands ,,vii4 ,d,,rer',s ,,last ,,years ,,part ,,iii ,d,,rer ,,as ,a ,,creator ,i4 ,d,,rer',s ,,pictures ,,ii4 ,d,,rer',s ,,portraits ,,iii4 ,d,,rer',s ,,drawings ,,iv4 ,d,,rer',s ,,metal ,,engravings ,v4 ,d,,rer',s ,,woodcuts ,,vi4 ,d,,rer',s ,,influences ,,and ,,verses ,,part ,,iv ,d,,rer',s ,,ideas ,i4 ,,the ,,idea ,,of ,a ,,canon ,,of ,,proportion ,,for ,,the ,,human ,,figure ,,ii4 ,,the ,,importance ,,of ,,docility ,,iii4 ,,the ,,last ,,tradition ,,iv4 ,,beauty ,v4 ,,nature ,,vi4 ,,the ,,choice ,,of ,,an ,,artist ,,vii4 ,,technical ,,precepts ,,viii4 ,,in ,,conclusion ,,illustrations ,apollo and ,diana1 ,metal ,engraving ,water-colour drawing of a ,hare ,pilate ,washing his ,hands4 ,metal ,engraving ,agnes ,frey ,mein ,angnes ,wilibald ,pirkheimer ,hans ,burgkmair ,adoration of the ,trinity ,st4 ,christopher ,assumption of the ,magdalen ,drer's ,mother ,maximilian ,frederick the ,wise ,silver-point ,portrait ,erasmus ,drawing of a ,lion ,lucas van der ,leyden ,peter and ,john at the ,beautiful ,gate4 ,metal ,engraving ,st4 ,george and ,st4 ,eustache ,martyrdom of ,ten ,thousand ,saints ,road to ,calvary ,portrait of ,drer ,portrait of ,drer ,albert ,drer the ,elder ,gswolt ,krel ,portrait at ,hampton ,court ,portrait of a ,lady ,michel ,wolgemuth ,hans ,imhof ,jakob ,muffel ,study of a ,hound ,memento ,mei ,silver-point ,portrait ,portrait in ,black ,chalk ,cherub for a ,crucifixion ,apollo and ,diana ,an ,old ,castle ,melancholia ,detail from ,the ,agony in the ,garden ,angel with ,sudarium ,the ,small ,horse ,the ,great ,fortune1 or ,nemesis ,silver-point ,drawing ,st4 ,michael and the ,dragon ,detail from ,the ,meeting at the ,golden ,gate ,detail from ,the ,nativity ,drer's ,armorial ,bearings ,christ haled before ,annas ,the ,last ,supper ,saint ,antony1 ,metal ,engraving ,in the ,eighteenth ,year ,una ,vilana ,wendisch ,charcoal ,drawing ,,part ,i ,,concerning ,,general ,,ideas ,,important ,,to ,,the ,,comprehension ,,of ,d,,rer',s ,,life ,,and ,,art ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,idea ,,of ,,proportion ,i ,ich hab vernomen wie der siben weysen aus kriechenland ainer gelert hab das dymass in allen dingen sitlichen und naturlichen das pest sey4 ,d,,rer1 ,british ,museum ,,ms41 vol4 iv41 #hb;a4 ,i have heard how one of the ,seven ,sages of ,greece taught that measure is in all things1 physical and moral1 best4 ,la souveraine habilet consiste bien connaitre le prix des choses4 ,,la ,,rochefoucauld1 ,,iii4 #beb4 ,sovereign skill consists in thoroughly understanding the value of things4 ,the attempt that the last quarter century has witnessed1 to introduce the methods of science into the criticism of works of art1 has tended1 it seems to me1 to put the question of their value into the background4 ,the easily scandalous inquiries1 ,who8 ,when8 ,where8 have assumed an impertinent predominance4 ,when ,i hear people very decidedly asserting that such a picture was painted by such an one1 not generally supposed to be the author1 at such a time1 c4 c41 ,i often feel uneasy in the same way as one does on being addressed in a loud voice in a church or a picture gallery1 where other persons are absorbed in an acknowledged and respected contemplation or study4 ,i feel inclined to blush and whisper1 for fear of being supposed to know the speaker too well4 ,it is an awkward moment with me1 for ,i am in fact very good friends with many such persons4 ,sovereign skill consists in thoroughly understanding the value of things--not their commercial value only1 though that is sovereign skill on the ,exchange1 but their value for those whose chief riches are within them4 ,the value of works of art is an intimate experience1 and cannot be estimated by the methods of exact science as the weight of a planet can4 ,there are and have been forgeries that are more beautiful1 therefore more valuable1 than genuine specimens of the class of work which they figure as4 ,i feel that the specialist1 with his special measure and point of view1 often endangers the fair name and good repute of the real estimate2 and that nothing but the dominion and diffusion of general ideas can defend us against the specialist and keep the specialist from being carried away by bad habits resulting from his devotion to a single inquiry4 ,there was one general idea1 of the greatest importance in determining the true value of things1 which preoccupied ,drer's mind and haunted his imagination3 the idea of proportion4 ,i propose therefore to attempt to make clear to myself and my readers what the idea of proportion really implies1 and of what service a sense for proportion really is2 secondly1 to determine the special use of the term in relation to the appreciation of works of art2 thirdly1 in relation to their internal structure2--before proceeding to the special studies of ,drer as a man and an artist4 ,,ii ,i conceive the human reason to be the antagonist of all known forces other than itself1 and that therefore its most essential character is the hope and desire to control and transform the universe2 or1 failing that1 to annihilate1 if not the universe1 at least itself and the consciousness of a monster fact which it entirely condemns4 ,in this conception ,i believe myself to be at one with those by whom men have been most influenced1 and who1 with or without confidence in the support of unknown powers1 have set themselves deliberately against the face of things to die or conquer4 ,this being so1 and man individually weak1 it has been the avowed object of great characters--carrying with them the instinctive consent of nations--to establish current values for all things1 according as their imagination could turn them to account as effective aids of reason3 that is1 as they could be made to advance her apparent empire over other elemental forces1 such as motion1 physical life1 c4 ,this evaluation1 in so far as it is constant1 results in what we call civilisation1 and is the only bond of society4 ,with difficulty is the value of new acquisitions recognised even in the realm of science1 until the imagination can place them in such a light as shall make them appear to advance reason's ends1 which accounts for the reluctance that has been shown to accept many scientific results4 ,reason demands that the world she would create shall be a fact1 and declares that the world she would transform is the real world1 but until the imagination can find a function for it in reason's ideal realm1 every piece of knowledge remains useless1 or even an obstacle in the way of our intended advance4 ,this applies to individuals just as truly as it does to mankind4 ,and since man's reason is a natural phenomenon and does apparently belong to the class of elemental forces1 this warfare against the apparent fact1 and the fortitude and hope which its whole-hearted prosecution begets1 appear as a natural law to the intelligence and as a command and promise to the reason4 ,the alternative between the will to cease and the will to serve reason1 with which ,i start out1 may not seem necessary to all4 ,forgive their sin--and if not1 blot me ,i pray thee out of thy book1 was ,moses' prayer2 and to me it seems that only by lethargy can any soul escape from facing this alternative4 ,the human mind in so far as it is active always postulates1 ,let that which ,i desire come to pass1 or let me cease6 ,nor is there any diversity possible as to what really is desirable3 ,man desires the full and harmonious development of his faculties4 ,as to how this end may most probably be attained1 there is diversity enough to represent every possible blend of ignorance with knowledge1 of lethargy with energy1 of cowardice with courage4 ,so endless and exorbitant are the desires of men1 whether considered in their persons or their states1 that they will grasp at all1 and can form no scheme of perfect happiness with less4#a ,so writes the most powerful of ,english prose-writers4 ,and this hope and desire1 which is reason1 once thrown down1 the most powerful among poets has brought from human lips this estimate of life-- ,it is a tale ,told by an idiot1 full of sound and fury1 ,signifying nothing4 ,no one knows whether reason's object will or can be attained2 but for the present each man finds confidence and encouragement in so far as he is able to imagine all things working together for the good of those who desire good--in short1 for reasonable beings4#b ,the more he knows1 the greater labour it is for him to imagine this2 but the more he concentrates his faculties on doing good and creating good things1 the more his imagination glows and shines and discovers to him new possibilities of success3 the better he is able to find-- ,sermons in stones and good in everything2 ,and make a moral of the devil himself4 ,but how is it that reason can accept an imagination that makes what in a cold light she considers her enemy1 appear her friend8 ,all things impress the mind with two contradictory notions--their actual condition and their perfection4 ,even the worst of its kind impresses on us an idea of what the best would be1 or we could not know it for the worst4 ,reason1 then1 seizes on this aspect of things which suggests their perfection1 and awards them her attention in proportion as such aspect makes their perfection seem near1 or as it may further her in transforming the most pressing of other evils4 ,all life tends to affirm its own character2 and the essential characteristic of man is reason1 which labours to perfect all things that he judges to be good1 and to transform all evil4 ,ultimate results are out of sight for all human faculties except the early-waking eyes of long-chastened hope2 but reason loves this visionary mood1 though she prefer that it be sung1 and find that less lyrical speech brings on it something of ridicule2 for such a rendering betrays1 as a rule1 faint desire or small power to serve her in those who use it4 ,the sense of proportion1 then1 is that fineness of susceptibility by which we appreciate in a given object1 person1 force1 or mood1 serviceableness in regard to reason's work2 in other words1 by which we estimate the capacity to transform the ,universe in such a way that men may ultimately be enabled to give their hearty consent to its existence1 which at present no man rationally can4 ,,iii ,now1 art appeals to fine susceptibilities2 for1 as ,i have explained elsewhere1#c the value of works of art depends on their having come as real and intimate experiences to a large number of gifted men--men who have some kinship to that finely touched and gifted man1 the ,greek heuphnaes of the ,greeks1 to use the phrase of our greatest modern critic4 ,and in so far as we are able to judge between works successfully making such an appeal1 we must be governed by this sense of proportion1 which measures how things stand in regard to reason2 that is1 not merely intellect1 not merely emotion1 but the alliance of both by means of the imagination in aid of man's most central demand--the demand for nobler life4 ,perhaps ,i ought to point out before proceeding1 that this position is not that of the writers on art most in view at the present day4 ,it is the negation of the so-called scientific criticism1 and also of the personal theory that reduces art to an expression of1 and an appeal to1 individual temperaments2 it is the assertion of the sovereignty of the aesthetic conscience on exactly the same grounds as sovereignty is claimed for the moral conscience4 sthetics deals with the morality of appeals addressed to the senses4 ,that is1 it estimates the success of such appeals in regard to the promotion of fuller and more harmonious life4 ,flaubert wrote3 ,le gnie n'est pas rare maintenant1 mais ce que personne n'a plus et ce qu'il faut tacher d'avoir1 c'est la conscience4 7,genius is not rare nowadays1 but conscience is what nobody has and what one should strive after47 ,to-day ,i am thinking of a painter4 ,painting is an art addressed primarily to the eye1 and not to the intelligence1 not to the imagination1 save as these may be reached through the eye--that most delicate organ of infinite susceptibility1 which teaches us the meaning of the word light--a word so often uttered with stress of ecstasy1 of longing1 of despair1 and of every other shade of emotion1 that the sound of it must soon be almost as powerful with the young heart1 almost as immediate in its effect1 as the break of day itself1 gladdening the eyes and glorifying the earth4 ,and how often is this joy received through the eye entrusted back to it for expression8 ,for the eye can speak with varieties1 delicacies1 and subtle shades of motion far beyond the attainment of any other organ4 ,this art of painting is made for the eyes1 for sight is the noblest sense of man1#d says ,drer2 and again3 ,it is ordained that never shall any man be able1 out of his own thoughts1 to make a beautiful figure1 unless1 by much study1 he hath well stored his mind4 ,that then is no longer to be called his own2 it is art acquired and learnt1 which soweth1 waxeth1 and beareth fruit after its kind4 ,thence the gathered secret treasure of the heart is manifested openly in the work1 and the new creature which a man createth in his heart1 appeareth in the form of a thing4#e ,yes1 indeed1 the function of art is far from being confined to telling us what we see1 whatever some may pretend1 or however naturally any small nature may desire to continue1 teach1 or regulate great ones4 ,all so-called scientific methods of creating or criticising works of art are inadequate1 because the only truly scientific statements that can be made about these inquiries are that nothing is certain--that no method ensures success1 and that no really important quality can be defined2 for what man can say why one cloud is more beautiful than another in the same sky1 any more than he can explain why1 of two men equally absorbed in doing their duty1 one impresses him as being more holy than the other8 ,the degrees essential to both kinds of judgment escape all definition2 only the imagination can at times bring them home to us1 only the refined taste or chastened conscience1 as the case may be1 witnesses with our spirit that its judgment is just1 and bids us recognise a master in him who delivers it4 ,as the expression on a face speaks to a delicate sense1 often communicating more1 other1 and better than can be seen1 so the proportion1 harmony1 rhythm of a painting may beget moods and joys that require the full resources of a well-stored mind and disciplined character in order that they may be fully relished--in brief1 demand that maturity of reason which is the mark of victorious man4 ,such being my conception1 it will easily be perceived how anxious ,i must be to truly discern and express the relation between such objects as works of art by common consent so highly honoured1 and at the same time so active in their effect upon the most exquisitely endowed of mankind4 ,especially since to-day caprice1 humour and temperament are1 by the majority of writers on art1 acclaimed for the radical characteristic of the human creative faculty1 instead of its perversion and disease2 and it is thought that to be whimsical1 moody1 or self-indulgent best fits a man both to create and appraise works of art1 whereas to become so really is the only way in which a man capable of such high tasks can with certainty ruin and degrade his faculties4 ,precious1 surpassingly precious indeed1 must every manifestation of such faculty before its final extinction remain1 since the race produces comparatively few endowed after this kind4 ,perhaps a sufficient illustration of this prevalent fallacy may be drawn from ,mr4 ,whistler's ,ten ,o',clock1 where he speaks of art3 ,a whimsical goddess1 and a capricious1 her strong sense of joy tolerates no dulness1 and1 live we never so spotlessly1 still may she turn her back upon us4 ,as from time immemorial1 she has done upon the ,swiss in their mountains4 ,here is no proof of caprice1 save on the witty writer's part2 for men who fast are not saved from bad temper1 nor have the kindly necessarily discreet tongues4 ,the ,swiss may be brave and honest1 and yet dull4 ,virtue is her own reward1 and art her own4 ,virtue rewards the saint1 art the artist2 but men are rewarded for attention to morality by some measure of joy in virtue1 for attention to beauty by some measure of joy in works of art4 ,between the artist and the ,philistine is no great gulf fixed1 in the sense that the witty master of the butterfly pretends to assume1 but an infinite and gentle decline of persons representing every possible blend of the virtues and faults of these two types4 ,again1 an artist is miscalled master of art4 ,where he is1 there she appears1 is airy impudence4 ,where she wills to be1 there she chooses a man to serve her1 would not only have been more gallant but more reasonable2 for that ,the wind bloweth where it listeth1 and thou hearest the sound thereof1 but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth3 so is every one that is born of the spirit1 and that many are called1 few chosen1 are sayings as true of the influence which kindleth art as of that which quickeneth to holiness4 ,art is not dignified by being called whimsical--or capricious4 ,what can a man explain8 ,the intention1 behind the wind1 behind the spirit1 behind the creative instinct1 is dark4 ,but man is true to his own most essential character when1 if he cannot refrain from prating of such mysteries1 he qualifies them as hope would have him1 with the noblest of his virtues2 not when he speaks of the unknown1 in whose hands his destiny so largely rests1 slightingly1 as of a woman whom he has seduced because he despised her--calling her capricious because she answered to his caprice1 whimsical1 because she was as flighty as his error4 ,it is not art's function to reward virtue4 ,but1 caprices and whimseys being ascribed to a goddess1 it will be natural to expect them in her worshipper2 and ,mr4 ,whistler revealed the limitations of his genius by whimseys and caprice4 ,though it was in their relations to the world that this goddess and her devotee claimed freedoms so far from perfect1 yet this1 their avowed characteristic abroad1 ,i think in some degree disturbed their domestic relations1 ,though others have underlined the absurdity of this theory by applying themselves to it with more faith and less sense1 ,i have chosen to quote from the ,ten ,o',clock1 because ,i admire it and accept most of the ideas about art advanced therein4 ,the artist who wrote it was able1 in ,drer's phrase1 to prove what he wrote with his hand4 ,most of those who have elaborated what was an occasional unsoundness of his doctrine into ridiculous religions are as unable to create as they are to think2 there is no need to record names which it is wisdom to forget4 ,but it may be well to point out that ,mr4 ,whistler does not succeed in glorifying great artists when he declares that beauty to them was as much a matter of certainty and triumph as is to the astronomer the verification of the result1 foreseen with the light granted to him alone4 ,no1 he only sets up a false analogy2 for the true parallel to the artist is the saint1 not the astronomer2 both are convinced1 neither understands4 ,art is no more the reward of intelligence than of virtue4 ,she permits no caprice in her own realm4 ,loyalty is the only virtue she insists on1 loyalty in regard to her servant's experience of beauty2 he may be immoral in every other way and she not desert him2 but let him turn ,balaam and declare beauty absent where he feels its presence--though in doing this he hopes to advance virtue or knowledge1 she needs no better than an ass to rebuke him4 ,nothing effects more for anarchy than these notions that art derives from individual caprice1 or defends virtue1 or demonstrates knowledge2 for they are all based on those flattering hopes of the unsuccessful1 that chance1 rules both in life and art1 or that it is possible to serve two masters4 ,doctrines often repeated gain easy credence2 and1 since art demands leisure in order to be at all enjoyed1 ideas about it1 in so fatiguing a life as ours has become1 take men off their guard1 when their habitual caution is laid to sleep1 and1 by an over-easiness1 they are inclined to spoil both their sense of distinction and their children4 ,yes1 they consent to theatres that degrade them1 because they distract and amuse2 and read journals that are smart and diverting at the expense of dignity and truth--in the same way as they smile at the child whom reason bids them reprove1 and with the like tragic result2 for they become incapable of enjoying works of art1 as the child is incapacitated for the best of social intercourse4 ,to prophesy smooth things to people in this condition1 and flatter their dulness1 is to be no true friend2 and so the modern art-critic and journalist is often the insidious enemy of the civilisation he contents4 ,nothing strikes the foreigner coming to ,england more than our lack of general ideas4 ,our art criticism is no exception2 it1 like our literature and politics1 is happy-go-lucky and delights in the pot-shot4 ,we often hear this attributed admiringly to the sporting instinct4 ,if ,god1 in his own time1 granteth me to write something further about matters connected with painting1 ,i will do so1 in hope that this art may not rest upon use and wont alone1 but that in time it may be taught on true and orderly principles1 and may be understood to the praise of ,god and the use and pleasure of all lovers of art4#f ,our art is still worse off than our trade or our politics1 for it does not even rest upon use and wont1 but is wholly in the air4 ,yet the typical modern aesthete has learnt where to take cover1 for1 though destitute of defence1 he has not entirely lost the instinct for self-preservation2 and1 when he finds the eye of reason upon him1 he immediately flies to the diversity of opinions4 ,but ,drer follows him even there with the perfect good faith of a man in earnest4 ,men deliberate and hold numberless differing opinions about beauty1 and they seek after it in many different ways1 although ugliness is thereby rather attained4 ,being then1 as we are1 in such a state of error1 ,i know not certainly what the ultimate measure of true beauty is1 and cannot describe it aright4 ,but glad should ,i be to render such help as ,i can1 to the end that the gross deformities of our work might be and remain pruned away and avoided1 unless indeed any one prefers to bestow great labour upon the production of deformities4 ,we are brought back1 therefore1 to the aforesaid judgment of men1 which considereth one figure beautiful at one time and another at another4444 ,because now we cannot altogether attain unto perfection1 shall we therefore wholly cease from learning8 ,by no means4 ,let us not take unto ourselves thoughts fit for cattle4 ,for evil and good lie before men1 wherefore it behoveth the rational man to choose the good4#g ,a man may see1 if he will but watch1 who is more finely touched and gifted than himself4 ,in all the various fields of human endeavour1 on such men he should try to form himself2 for only thus can he enlarge his nature1 correct his opinions4 ,something he can learn from this man1 something from that1 and it is rational to learn and be taught4 ,are we to be cattle or gods8 ,is it not written in your law1 ,i said1 ',ye are gods8' ,reason demands that each man form himself on the pattern of a god1 and ,god is an empty name if reason be not the will of ,god4 ,then he whom reason hath brought up may properly be called a son of ,god1 a son of man1 a child of light4 ,but it is easier to bob to such phrases than to understand them4 ,however1 their mechanical repetition does not prevent their having meant something once1 does not prevent their meaning being their true value4 ,it is time we understood our art1 just as it is time we understood our religion4 ,docility1 as ,i have pointed out elsewhere1 is one of the marks of genius4 ,drer's spirit is the spirit of the great artist who will learn even from dull men of little judgment4 ,let none be ashamed to learn1 for a good work requireth good counsel4 ,nevertheless1 whosoever taketh counsel in the arts1 let him take it from one thoroughly versed in those matters1 who can prove what he saith with his hand4 ,howbeit any one may give thee counsel2 and when thou hast done a work pleasing to thyself1 it is good for thee to show it to dull men of little judgment that they may give their opinion of it4 ,as a rule they pick out the most faulty points1 whilst they entirely pass over the good4 ,if thou findest something they say true1 thou mayst thus better thy work4#h ,those who are thoroughly versed in art are the great artists2 we have guides then1 and we have a way--the path they have trodden--and we have company1 the gifted and docile men of to-day whom we see to be improving themselves2 and1 in so far as we are reasonable1 a sense of proportion is ours1 which we may improve2 and it will help us to catch up better and yet better company until we enjoy the intimacy of the noblest1 and know as we are known4 ,then3 ,may we not consider it a sign of sanity when we regard the human spirit as 444 a poet1 and art as a half written poem8 ,shall we not have a sorry disappointment if its conclusion is merely novel1 and not the fulfilment and vindication of those great things gone before8#i ,for my own part1 those appear to me the grandest characters who1 on finding that there is no other purchase for effort but only hope1 and that they can never cease from hope but by ceasing to live1 clear their minds of all idle acquiescence in what could never be hoped1 and concentrate their energies on conquering whatever in their own nature1 and in the world about them1 militates against their most essential character--reason1 which seeks always to give a higher value to life4 ,,iv ,when we speak of the sense of proportion displayed in the design of a building1 many will think that the word is used in quite a different sense1 and one totally unrelated to those which ,i have been discussing4 ,but no2 life and art are parallel and correspond throughout2 ethics are the ,esthetics of life1 religion the art of living4 ,taste and conscience only differ in their provinces1 not in their procedure4 ,both are based on instinctive preferences2 the canon of either is merely so many of those preferences as1 by their constant recurrence to individuals gifted with the power of drawing others after them1 are widely accepted4 ,the preference of serenity to melancholy1 of light to darkness1 are among the most firmly established in the canon1 that is all4 ,the sense of proportion within a design is employed to stimulate and delight the eye4 ,ordinary people may fear there is some abstruse science about this4 ,not at all2 it is as simple as relishing milk and honey1 and its development an exact parallel to the training of the palate to distinguish the flavours of teas1 coffees and wines4 ,taste and see is the whole business4 ,there are many people who have no hesitation in picking out what to their eye is the wainscot panel with the richest grain3 they see it at once4 ,so with etchings2 if people would only forget that they are works of art1 forget all the false or ill-understood standards which they have been led to suppose applicable1 and look at them as they might at agate stones2 or choose out the richest in effect3 the most suitable for a gay room1 or a hall1 or a library1 as though they were patterned stuffs for curtains2 they would come a thousand times nearer a right appreciation of ,drer's success than by making a pot-shot to lasso the masterpiece with the tangle of literary rubbish which is known as art criticism4 ,the harmonies and contrasts of juxtaposed colours or textures are affected by quantity1 and a sense of proportion decides what quantities best produce this effect and what that4 ,the correctness or amount of information to be conveyed in the delineation of some object1 in relation to the mood which the artist has chosen shall dominate his work1 is determined by his sense of proportion4 ,he may distort an object to any extent or leave it as vague as the shadow on a wall in diffused light1 or he may make it precise and particular as ever ,jan ,van ,eyck did2 so only that its distortion or elaboration is so proportioned to the other objects and intentions of his work as to promote its success in the eyes of the beholder4 ,there are no fallacies greater than the prevalent ones conveyed by the expressions out of drawing or untrue to nature4 ,there is no such thing as correct drawing or an outside standard of truth for works of art4 ,the conception of every work of art carries within it its own rule and method1 which must be found out before it can be achieved4 ,chaque oeuvre faire a sa potique en soi1 qu'il faut trouver1 said ,flaubert4 ,truth in a work of art is sincerity4 ,that a man says what he really means--shows us what he really thinks to be beautiful--is all that reason bids us ask for4 ,no science or painstaking can make up for his not doing this4 ,no lack of skill or observation can entirely frustrate his communicating his intention to kindred natures if he is utterly sincere4 ,an infant communicates its joy4 ,it is probable that the inexpressible is never felt4 ,stammering becomes more eloquent than oratory1 a child's impulsiveness wiser than circumlocutory experience4 ,when a single intention absorbs the whole nature1 communication is direct and immediate1 and makes impotence itself a means of effectiveness4 ,so the naveties of early art put to shame the purposeless parade of prodigious skill4 ,wherever there is communication there is art2 but there are evil communications and there is vicious art1 though1 perhaps1 great sincerity is incompatible with either4 ,for an artist to be deterred by other people's demands means that he is not artist enough2 it is what his reason teaches him to demand of himself that matters1 though1 doubtless1 the good desire the approval of kindred natures4 ,a work of art addresses the eye by means of chosen proportions2 it may present any number of facts as exactly as may be1 but if it offend the eye it is a mere misapplication of industry1 or the illustration of a scientific treatise out of place2 and those that choose ribbons well are better artists than the man that made it4 ,or again it may overflow with poetical thought and suggestion1 or have the stuff to make a first-rate story in it2 but1 if it offend the eye1 it is merely a misapplication of imagination1 invention or learning1 and the girl who puts a charming nosegay together is a better artist than he who painted it4 ,on the other hand1 though it have no more significance than a glass of wine and a loaf of bread1 if the eye is rejoiced by gazing on the paint that expresses them1 it is a work of art and a fine achievement4 ,still1 it may be as fanciful as a fairy-tale1 or as loaded with import as the ,crucifixion2 and1 if it stimulates the eye to take delight in its surfaces over and above mere curiosity1 it is a work of art1 and great in proportion as the significance of what it conveys is brought home to us by the very quality of the stimulus that is created in return for our gaze4 ,for painting is the result of a power to speak beautifully with paint1 as poetry is of a power to express beautifully by means of words either simple things or those which demand the effort of a welltrained mind in order to be received and comprehended4 ,the mistake made by impressionists1 luminarists1 and other modern artists1 is that a true statement of how things appear to them will suffice2 it will not1 unless things appear beautiful to them1 and they render them beautifully4 ,it will not1 because science is not art1 because knowledge is a different thing from beauty4 ,a true statement may be repulsive and degrading2 whereas an affirmation of beauty1 whether it be true or fancied1 is always moving1 and if delivered with corresponding grace is inspiring--is a work of art and a joy for ever4 ,for reason demands that all the eye sees shall be beautiful1 and give such pleasure as best consists with the universe becoming what reason demands that it shall become4 ,this demand of reason is perfectly arbitrary8 ,yes1 but it is also inevitable1 necessitated by the nature of the human character4 ,it is equally arbitrary and equally inevitable that man must1 where science is called for1 in the long run prefer a true statement to a lie4 ,from art reason demands beautiful objects1 from science true statements3 such is human nature2 for the possession of this reason that judges and condemns the universe1 and demands and attempts to create something better1 is that which differentiates human life from all other known forces--is that by which men may be more than conquerors1 may make peace with the universe2 for ,a peace is of the nature of a conquest2 ,for then both parties nobly are subdued ,and neither party loser4 ,of such a nature is the only peace that the soul can make with the body--that man can make with nature--that habit can make with instinct--that art can make with impulse4 ,in order to establish such a peace the imagination must train reason to see a friend in her enemy1 the physical order4 ,for1 as ,reynolds says of the complete artist3 ,he will pick up from dunghills1 what1 by a nice chemistry1 passing through his own mind1 shall be converted into pure gold1 and under the rudeness of ,gothic essays1 he will find original1 rational1 and even sublime inventions4#aj ,it is not too much to say that the nature both of the artist and of the dunghills is subdued by such a process1 and yet neither is a loser4 ,goethe profoundly remarked that the highest development of the soul was reached through worship first of that which was above1 then of that which was beneath it4 ,this great critic also said1 ,only with difficulty do we spell out from that which nature presents to us1 the ,,desired word1 the congenial4 ,men find what the artist brings intelligible and to their taste1 stimulating and alluring1 genial and friendly1 spiritually nourishing1 formative and elevating4 ,thus the artist1 grateful to the nature that made him1 weaves a second nature--but a conscious1 a fuller1 a more perfectly human nature4 ,illustration3 ,water-colour drawing of a ,hare ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #a3 ,swift1 ,contests and ,dissensions in ,athens and ,rome4 ,footnote #b3 ,it may be urged that diversities of opinion exist as to what good is4 ,the convenience of the words good and evil corresponds to a need created by a common experience in the same way as the convenience of the words light and darkness does4 ,a child might consider that a diamond generated light in the same way as a candle does4 ,he would be mistaken1 but this would not affect the correctness of his application of the word light to his experience2 if he confused light with darkness he must immediately become unintelligible4 ,good and light are perceived and named--no one can say more of them2 the effects of both may be described with more or less accuracy4 ,to say that light is a mode of motion does not define it2 we ask at once1 ,what mode8 ,and the only answer is1 that which produces the effect of light4 ,a man born blind1 though he knew what was meant by motion1 could never deduce from this knowledge a conception of light4 ,footnote #c3 ,the ,monthly ,review1 ,october #aijb1 ,rodin4 ,footnote #d3 ,literary ,remains of ,albrecht ,drer1 p4 #agg4 ,footnote #e3 ,ibid4 p4 #bdg4 ,footnote #f3 ,literary ,remains of ,albrecht ,drer1 p4 #beb4 ,footnote #g3 ,literary ,remains of ,albrecht ,drer1 pp1 #bdd and #bde4 ,footnote #h3 ,literary ,remains of ,albrecht ,drer1 p4 #ahj4 ,footnote #i3 ,the ,monthly ,review1 ,april #aija1 ,in ,defence of ,reynolds4 ,footnote #aj3 ,sixth ,discourse4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,religion ,,on ,,the ,,creative ,,impulse ,i ,there are some artists of whom one would naturally write in a lyrical strain1 with praise of the flesh1 and those things which add to its beauty1 freshness1 and mystery--fair scenes of mountain1 woodland1 or sea-shore2 blue sky1 white cloud and sunlight1 or the deep and starry night2 youth and health1 strength and fertility1 frankness and freedom4 ,and1 in such a strain1 one would insist that the fondness and intoxication which these things quicken was natural1 wise1 and lovely4 ,but1 quite as naturally1 when one has to speak of ,drer1 the mind becomes filled with the exhilaration and the staidness that the desire to know and the desire to act rightly beget2 with the dignity of conscious comprehension1 the serenity of accomplished duty with all the strenuousness and ardour of which the soul is capable2 with science and religion4 ,it is natural to refer often to the towering eminence of these virtues in ,michael ,angelo2 both he and ,drer were not only great artists1 and active and powerful minds1 but men imbued with1 and conservative of1 piety4 ,and it seems to me1 if we are to appreciate and sympathise deeply with such men1 we must try to understand the religion they believed in2 to estimate1 not only what its value was supposed to be in those days1 but what value it still has for us4 ,surely what they prized so highly must have had real and lasting worth8 ,surely it can only be the relation of that value to common speech and common thought which has changed1 not its relation to man's most essential nature8 ,therefore ,i will first try to arrive at a general notion of the real worth of their ideas1--that is1 the worth that is equally great from their point of view and ours4 ,the whole of that period1 the period of the so belauded ,renascence1 had within it 7or so it seems to me7 an incurable insufficiency1 which troubles the affections of those who praise or condemn it2 so that they show themselves more passionate than those who praise or condemn the art and life of ancient ,greece4 ,this insufficiency ,i believe to have been due to the fact that ,christian ideas were more firmly rooted in1 than they were understood by1 the society of those days4 ,and to-day ,i think the same cause continues to propagate a like insufficiency1 a like lack of correspondence between effort and aim4 ,certain ideas found in the reported sayings of ,jesus have so fastened upon the ,european intellect that they seem well-nigh inseparable from it4 ,we are told that the effort of the ,greek1 of ,aristotle1 was to submit to the empire of fact4 ,the effort of the ,jew was very similar2 for the prophets1 what happened was the will of ,god1 what will happen is what ,god intends4 ,now it is noteworthy that ,aristotle did not wish to submit to ignorance1 though it and the causes which produce it and preserve it in human minds are among the most horrible and tremendous of facts2 and it is the imperishable glory of the prophets1 that1 whatever the priest the king1 the ,sadducee or ,pharisee might do1 they could not rest in or abide the idea that ,god's will was ever evil2 no inconsistency was too glaring to check their indignation at ,eastern fatalism which quietly supposed that as things went wrong it was their nature to do so2--vanity1 vanity1 all is vanity6--or that if men did wrong and prospered1 it was ,god's doing1 and showed that they had pleased ,him with sacrifices and performances4 ,,ii ',wherever poetry1 imagination1 or art had been busy1 there had appeared1 both in ,judea and ,greece1 some degree of rebellion against the empire of fact44 ,when ,jesus said3 ,the kingdom of heaven is within you1 he recognised that the human reason was the antagonist of all other known forces1 and he declared war on the god of this world and prophesied the downfall of--the empire of the apparent fact2--not with fume and fret1 not with rant and rage1 as poets and seers had done1 but mildly affirming that with the soul what is best is strongest1 has in the long run most influence2 that there is one fact in the essential nature of man which1 antagonist to the influence of all other facts1 wields an influence destined to conquer or absorb all other influences4 ,he said3 ,my ,father which is in heaven1 the master influence within me1 has declared that ,i shall never find rest to my soul until ,i prefer ,his kingdom1 the conception of my heart1 to the kingdoms of earth and the glory of the earth4 ',we have seen that ,drer describes the miracle2 the work of art1 thus3 ,the secret treasure which a man conceived in his heart shall appear as a thing 7see page #aj74 ,and we know that he prized this1 the master thing1 the conception of the heart1 above everything else4 ,much learning is not evil to a man1 though some be stiffly set against it1 saying that art puffeth up4 ,were that so1 then were none prouder than ,god who hath formed all arts1 but that cannot be1 for ,god is perfect in goodness4 ,the more1 therefore1 a man learneth1 so much the better doth he become1 and so much the more love doth he win for the arts and for things exalted4 ,the learning ,drer chiefly intends is not book-learning or critical lore1 but knowledge how to make1 by which man becomes a creator in imitation of ,god2 for this is of necessity the most perfect knowledge1 rivalling the sureness of intuition and instinct4 ,,iii ,heaven and earth shall pass away1 but my words shall not pass away4 ,every one knows how anxious great artists become for the preservation of their works1 how highly they value permanence in the materials employed1 and immunity from the more obvious chances of destruction in the positions they are to occupy4 ,michael ,angelo is said to have painted cracks on the ,sistina ceiling to force the architect to strengthen the roof4 ,when ,jesus made the assertion that his teaching would outlast the influence of the visible world of nature and the societies of men--the kingdoms of earth and the glory of the earth--he did no more than every victorious soul strives to effect1 and to feel assured that it has in some large degree effected2 the difference between him and them is one of degree4 ,it may be objected that different hearts harbour and cherish contradictory conceptions4 ,doubtless2 but does the desire to win the co-operation and approval of other men consist with the higher developments of human faculties8 ,is it1 perhaps1 essential to them8 ,if so1 in so far as every man increases in vitality and the employment of his powers1 he will be forced to reverence and desire the solidarity of the race1 and consequently to relinquish or neglect whatever in his own ideal militates against such solidarity4 ,and this will be the case whether he judge such eccentric elements to be nobler or less noble than the qualities which are fostered in him by the co-operation of his fellows4 ,jesus1 at any rate1 affirmed that the law of the kingdom within a man's soul was3 ,love thy neighbour as thyself2 and that obedience to it would work in every man like leaven1 which is lost sight of in the lump of dough1 and seems to add nothing to it1 yet transforms the whole in raising up the loaf2 or as the corn of wheat which is buried in the glebe like a dead body1 yet brings forth the blade1 and nourishes a new life4 ,so he that should follow ,jesus by obeying the laws of the kingdom1 by loving ,god 7the begetter or fountainhead of a man's most essential conception of what is right and good7 and his neighbour1 was assured by his mild and gracious ,master that he would inherit1 by way of a return for the sacrifices which such obedience would entail1 a new and better life4 7,follow me1 ,i laid down my life in order that ,i might take it again4 ,he that findeth his life shall lose it2 and he that loseth his life for my sake--as ,i did1 in imitation of me--shall find it47 ,for in order to make this very difficult obedience possible1 it was to be turned into a labour of love done for the ,master's sake4 ,as ,goethe said3 ,against the superiority of another1 there is no remedy but love4 ,is it not true that the superiority of another man humiliates1 crushes and degrades us in our own eyes1 if we envy it or hate it instead of loving it8 while by loving it we make it in a sense ours1 and can rejoice in it4 ,so ,jesus affirmed that he had made the superiority of the ideal his2 so that he was in it1 and it was in him1 so that men who could no longer fix their attention on it in their own souls might love it in him4 ,he was their master-conception1 their true ideal1 acting before them1 captivating the attention of their senses and emotions4 ,this is what a man of our times1 possessed of rare receptivity and great range of comprehension1 considered to be the pith of ,jesus' teaching4 ,matthew ,arnold gave much time and labour to trying to persuade men that this was what the religion they professed1 or which was professed around them1 most essentially meant4 ,and he reminded us that the adequacy of such ideas for governing man's life depended not on the authority of a book or writings by eye-witnesses with or without intelligence1 but on whether they were true in experience4 ,he quoted ,goethe's test for every idea about life1 ,but is it true1 is it true for me1 now8 ,taste and see1 as the prophets put it2 or as ,jesus said1 ,follow me4 ,for an ideal must be followed1 as a man woos a woman2 the pursuit may have to be dropped1 in order to be more surely recovered2 an ideal must be humoured1 not seized at once as a man seizes command over a machine4 ,this secret of success was was only to be won by the development of a temper1 a spirit of docility4 ,to love it in an example was the best1 perhaps the only way of gaining possession of it4 ,,iv ,as we are placed1 what hope can we have but to learn8 and what is there from which we might not learn8 ,an artist is taught by the materials he uses more essentially than by the objects he contemplates2 for these teach him how1 and perfect him in creating1 those only teach him what1 and suggest forms to be created4 ,but for men in general the what is more important than the how2 and only very powerful art can exhilarate and refine them by means of subjects which they dislike or avoid4 ,every seer of beauty is not a creator of beautiful things2 and in art the how is so much more essential than the what1 that artists create unworthy or degrading objects beautifully1 so that we admire their art as much as we loathe its employment2 in nature1 too1 such objects are met with1 created by the god of this world4 ,a good man1 too1 may create in a repulsive manner objects whose every association is ennobling or elevating4 ,the kingdom of heaven is within you1 but hell is also within4 ,hell hath no limits1 nor is circumscribed ,in one self place2 for where we are is hell ,and where hell is1 must we for ever be3 ,and1 to conclude1 when all the world dissolves1 ,and every creature shall be purified1 ,all places shall be hell that are not heaven1 as ,marlowe makes his ,mephistophilis say3 and the best art is the most perfect expression of that which is within1 of heaven or of hell4 ,goethe said3 ,in the ,greeks1 whose poetry and rhetoric was simple and positive1 we encounter expressions of approval more often than of disapproval4 ,with the ,romans1 on the other hand1 the contrary holds good2 and the more corrupted poetry and rhetoric become1 the more will censure grow and praise diminish4 ,i have sometimes thought that the difference between classic and more or less decadent art lies in the fact that by the one things are appreciated for what they most essentially are--a young man1 a swift horse1 a chaste wife1 c4--by the other for some more or less peculiar or accidental relation that they hold to the creator4 ,such writers lament that the young are not old1 the old not young1 prostitutes not pure1 that maidens are cold and modest or matrons portly4 ,they complain of having suffered from things being cross1 or they take malicious pleasure in pointing that crossness out2 whereas classical art always rebounds from the perception that things are evil to the assertion of what ought to be or shall be4 ,it triumphs over the ,prince of ,darkness1 and covers a multitude of sins1 as dew or hoar frost cover and make beautiful a dunghill4 ,dunghills exist2 but he who makes of ,macbeth's or ,clytemnestra's crimes an elevating or exhilarating spectacle triumphs over the god of this world1 as ,jesus did when he made the most ignominious death the symbol1 of his victory and glory4 ,little wonder that ,albert ,drer1 and ,michael ,angelo found such deep satisfaction in ,him as the object of their worship--his method of docility was next-of-kin to that of their art4 ,respect and solicitude create the soul1 and these two pre-eminently docile passions preside over the soul's creation1 whether it be a society1 a life1 or a thing of beauty4 ,v ,here1 when art was still religion1 with a simple1 reverent heart1 ,lived and laboured ,albrecht ,drer1 the ,evangelist of ,art4 ,these jingling lines would scarcely merit consideration but that they express a common notion which has its part of truth as well as of error4 ,let us examine the first assertion 7that art has been religion47 ,baudelaire1 in his ,curiosits ,esthtiques says3 ,la premire affaire d'un artiste est de substituer l'homme la nature et de protester contre elle4 7,the first thing for an artist is to substitute man for nature and to protest against her47 ,the beginners and the smatterers are always students of nature1 and suppose that to be so will suffice2 but when the understanding and imagination gain width and elasticity1 life is more and more understood as a long struggle to overcome or humanise nature by that which most essentially distinguishes man from other animals and inanimate nature4 ,religion should be the drill and exercise of the human faculties to fit them and maintain them in readiness for this struggle2 the work of art should be the assertion of victory4 ,a life worthy of remembrance is a work of art1 a life worthy of universal remembrance is a masterpiece3 only the materials employed differentiate it from any other work of art4 ,the life of ,jesus is considered as such a masterpiece4 ,thus we can say that if art has never been religion1 religion has always been and ever will be an art4 ,now let us examine the second assertion that ,drer was an evangelist4 ,what kind of character do we mean to praise when we say a man is an evangelist8 ,two only of the four evangelists can be said to reveal any ascertainable personality1 and only ,st4 ,john is sufficiently outlined to stand as a type2 but ,i do not think we mean to imply a resemblance to ,st4 ,john4 ,the bringer of good news1 the evangelist par excellence1 was ,jesus4 ,he it was who made it evident that the sons of men have power to forgive sins4 ,victory over evil possible--this was the good news4 ,no doubt every sincere ,christian is supposed to be a more or less successful imitator of ,jesus2 and as such1 ,drer may rightly be called an evangelist4 ,but more than this is ,i think1 implied in the use of the word2 an evangelist is1 for us above all a bringer of good news in something of the same manner as ,jesus brought it1 by living among sinners for those sinners' sake1 among paupers for those paupers' sake2 to see a man sweet1 radiant1 and victorious under these circumstances1 is to see an evangelist4 ,goethe's final claim is that1 after all1 there are honest people up and down the world who have got light from my books2 and whoever reads them1 and gives himself the trouble to understand me1 will acknowledge that he has acquired thence a certain inward freedom2 and for this reason ,i have been tempted to call him the evangelist of the modern world4 ,but it is best to use the word as ,i believe it is most correctly employed1 and not to yield to the temptation 7for tempting it is7 to call men like ,drer and ,goethe evangelists4 ,they are teachers who charm as well as inform us1 as ,jesus was2 but they are not evangelists in the sense that he was1 for they did not deal directly with human life where it is forced most against its distinctive desire for increase in nobility1 or is most obviously degraded by having betrayed it4'#aa ,,vi ,i have often heard it objected that ,jesus is too feminine an ideal1 too much based on renunciation and the effort to make the best of failure4 ,no doubt that as women are1 by the necessity of their function1 more liable to the ship-wreck of their hopes1 the bankruptcy of their powers1 they have been drawn to cling to this hope of salvation in greater numbers1 and with more fervour2 so that the most general idea of ,jesus may be a feminine one4 ,it does not follow that this is the most correct or the best3 every object1 every person will appear differently to different natures4 ,and it still remains true that there have been a great many men of very various types who have drawn strength and beauty from the contemplation and reverence of ,jesus4 ,that this ideal is too much based on making the best of failure is an objection that makes very little impression on me1 for ,i think ,i perceive that failure is one of the most constant and widespread conditions of the universe1 and even more certainly of human life4 ,,vii ,it remains now to see in what degree these ideas were felt or made themselves felt through the ,romanism and ,lutheranism of the ,renascence period4 ,perhaps we ,english shall best recognise the presence of these ideas1 the working of this leaven--this docility1 the necessary midwife of 'genius1 who transforms the difficult tasks which the human reason sets herself into labours of love--in an ,englishman2 so my first example shall be taken from ,erasmus' portrait of ,dean ,colet4 ,it was then that my acquaintance with him began1 he being then thirty1 ,i two or three months his junior4 ,he had no theological degree1 but the whole ,university1 doctors and all1 went to hear him4 ,henry ,,vii took note of him1 and made him ,dean of ,st4 ,paul's4 ,his first step was to restore discipline in the ,chapter1 which had all gone to wreck4 ,he preached every saint's day to great crowds4 ,he cut down household expenses1 and abolished suppers and evening parties4 ,at dinner a boy reads a chapter from ,scripture2 ,colet takes a passage from it and discourses to the universal delight4 ,conversation is his chief pleasure1 and he will keep it up till midnight if he finds a companion4 ,me he has often taken with him on his walks1 and talks all the time of ,christ4 ,he hates coarse language1 furniture1 dress1 food1 books1 all clean and tidy1 but scrupulously plain2 and he wears grey woollen when priests generally go in purple4 ,with the large fortune which he inherited from his father1 he founded and endowed a school at ,st4 ,paul's entirely at his own cost-- masters1 houses1 salaries1 everything4 ,he is a man of genuine piety4 ,he was not born with it4 ,he was naturally hot1 impetuous and resentful--indolent1 fond of pleasure and of women's society--disposed to make a joke of everything4 ,he told me that he had fought against his faults with study1 fasting and prayer1 and thus his whole life was in fact unpolluted with the world's defilements4 ,his money he gave all to pious uses1 worked incessantly1 talked always on serious subjects1 to conquer his disposition to levity2 not but what you could see traces of the old ,adam when wit was flying at feast or festival4 ,he avoided large parties for this reason4 ,he dined on a single dish1 with a draught or two of light ale4 ,he liked good wine1 but abstained on principle4 ,i never knew a man of sunnier nature4 ,no one ever more enjoyed cultivated society2 but here1 too1 he denied himself1 and was always thinking of the life to come4 ,his opinions were peculiar1 and he was reserved in expressing them for fear of exciting suspicion4 ,he knew how unfairly men judge each other1 how credulous they are of evil1 how much easier it is for a lying tongue to stain a reputation than for a friend to clear it4 ,but among his friends he spoke his mind freely4 ,he admitted privately that many things were generally taught which he did not believe1 but he would not create a scandal by blurting out his objections4 ,no book could be so heretical but he would read it1 and read it carefully4 ,he learnt more from such books than he learnt from dogmatism and interested orthodoxy4#ab ,some may wonder what ,colet could have found to say about ,christ which could not only interest but delight the young and witty ,erasmus2 and may judge that at any rate to-day such a subject is sufficiently fly-blown4 ,the proper reflection to make is1 ,a rose by any other name would smell as sweet4 ,whether we say ,christ or ,perfection does not matter1 it is what we mean which is either enthralling or dull1 fresh or fusty2 there's nothing in a name4 ,when ,colet speaks ,i might be listening to ,plato1 says ,erasmus in another place1 at a time when he was still younger and had just come from what had been a gay and perhaps in some measure a dissolute life in ,paris3 not that it is possible to imagine ,erasmus as at any time committing great excesses1 or deeply sinning against the sense of proportion and measure4 ,success is the only criterion1 as in art1 so in religion3 the man that plucks out his eye and casts it from him1 and remains the dull1 greedy1 distressful soul he was before1 is a damned fool2 but the man who does the same and becomes such that his younger friends report of him1 ,i never knew a sunnier nature1 is an artist in life1 a great artist in the sense that ,christ is supposed to have been a great master2 one who draws men to him1 as bees are drawn to flowers4 ,colet drew the young ,henry the ,eighth as well as ,erasmus4 ,the ,king said3 ',let every man choose his own doctor4 ,dean ,colet shall be mine6' ,though no doubt charlatans have often fascinated young scholars and monarchs1 yet it is peculiarly impossible to think of ,colet as a charlatan4 ,,viii ,next let us take a sonnet and a sentence from ,michael ,angelo3 ,yes6 hope may with my strong desire keep pace1 ,and ,i be undeluded1 unbetrayed2 ,for if of our affections none finds grace ,in sight of heaven1 then1 wherefore hath ,god made ,the world which we inhabit8 ,better plea ,love cannot have than that in loving thee ,glory to that eternal peace is paid1 ,who such divinity to thee imparts1 ,as hallows and makes pure all gentle hearts4 ,his hope is treacherous only whose love dies ,with beauty1 which is varying every hour2 ,but in chaste hearts1 uninfluenced by the power ,of outward change1 there blooms a deathless flower1 ,that breathes on earth the air of paradise4#ac ,it is very remarkable how strongly the conviction of permanence1 and the preference for the inward conception over external beauty are expressed in this fine sonnet2 and also that the reason given for accepting the discipline of love is that experience shows how it hallows and makes pure all gentle hearts4 ,in such a love poem--the object of which might very well have been ,jesus--,i seem to find more of the spirit of his religion1 whereby he binds his disciples to the ,father that ruled within him1 till they too feel the bond of parentage as deeply as himself and become sons with him of his ,father2--more of that binding power of ,jesus is for me expressed in this fine sonnet than in ,luther's ,catechism4 ,the religion that enables a great artist to write of love in this strain1 is the religion of docility1 of the meek and lowly heart4 ,for ,michael ,angelo was not a man by nature of a meek and lowly heart1 any more than ,colet was a man naturally saintly or than ,luther was a man naturally refined4 ,but because ,michael ,angelo thus prefers the kingdom of heaven to external beauty1 one must not suppose that he1 its arch high-priest1 despised it4 ,nobody had a more profound respect for the thing of beauty1 whether it was the creation of ,god or man4 ,he said3 ,nothing makes the soul so pure1 so religious1 as the endeavour to create something perfect2 for ,god is perfection1 and whoever strives for perfection1 strives for something that is ,god-like4 ,now we can perceive how the same spirit worked in a great artist1 not at ,nuremberg or ,london1 but at ,rome1 the centre of the world1 where a ,borgia could be ,pope4 ,,ix ,erasmus1 the typical humanist1 the man who loved humanity so much that he felt that his love for it might tempt him to fight against ,god1 travelled from the one world to the other2 passed from the society of cardinals and princes to the seclusion of burgher homes in ,london1 or to chat with ,drer at ,antwerp4 ,he belonged perhaps to neither world at heart2 but how greatly his love and veneration of the one exceeded his admiration and sense of the practical utility of the other1 a comparison of his sketch of ,colet with such a note as this from his ,new ,testament makes abundantly plain3 ,i saw with my own eyes ,pope ,julius ,,ii4 at ,bologna1 and afterwards at ,rome1 marching at the head of a triumphal procession as if he were ,pompey or ,csar4 ,st4 ,peter subdued the world with faith1 not with arms or soldiers or military engines4 ,st4 ,peter's successors would win as many victories as ,st4 ,peter won if they had ,peter's spirit4 ,but we must not forget that the book in which these notes appeared was published with the approval of a ,pope1 and that he and others sought its author for advice as to how to cope best with their more hot-headed enemy ,martin ,luther4 ,we must also remember that we are told that ,colet was not very hard on priests and monks who only sinned with women4 ,he did not make light of impurity1 but thought it less criminal than spite and malice and envy and vanity and ignorance4 ,the loose sort were at least made human and modest by their very faults1 and he regarded avarice and arrogance as blacker sins in a priest than a hundred concubines4 ,this spirit was not that of the ,reformation which came to stop1 yet it existed and was widespread at that time2 it was ,i think the spirit which either formed or sustained most of the great artists4 ,at any rate it both formed and sustained ,albert ,drer4 ,yet the true nature of these ideas1 derived from ,jesus1 could not be understood even by ,colet1 even by ,erasmus4 ,for them it was tradition which gave value and assured truth to ,christ's ideas1 not the truth of those ideas which gave value to the traditions and legends concerning him4 ,the value of those ideas was felt1 sometimes nearer1 sometimes further off2 it was loved and admired2 their lives were apprehended by it1 and spent in illustrating and studying it1 as were also those of ,albert ,drer and ,michael ,angelo4 ,to understand the life and work of such men1 we must form some conception of the true nature and value of those ideas1 as ,i have striven to do in this chapter4 ,otherwise we shall merely admire and love them1 as they admired and loved ,jesus2 and it has now become a point of honour with educated men not only to love and admire1 but to make the effort to understand4 ,even they desired to do this4 ,and ,i think we may rejoice that the present time gives us some advantage over those days1 at least in this respect4 ,x ,and lastly1 in order to bring us back to our main subject1 let us quote from a stray leaf of a lost ,,ms4 ,book of ,drer's1 which contains the description of his father's death4 444 desired4 ,so the old wife helped him up1 and the night-cap on his head had suddenly become wet with drops of sweat4 ,then he asked to drink1 so she gave him a little ,reinfell wine4 ,he took a very little of it1 and then desired to get into bed again and thanked her4 ,and when he had got into bed he fell at once into his last agony4 ,the old wife quickly kindled the candle for him and repeated to him ,s4 ,bernard's verses1 and ere she had said the third he was gone4 ,god be merciful to him6 ,and the young maid1 when she saw the change1 ran quickly to my chamber and woke me1 but before ,i came down he was gone4 ,i saw the dead with great sorrow1 because ,i had not been worthy to be with him at his end4 ,and thus in the night before ,s4 ,matthew's eve my father passed away1 in the year above mentioned 7,sept4 #bj1 #aejb7 --the merciful ,god help me also to a happy end--and he left my mother an afflicted widow behind him4 ,he was ever wont to praise her highly to me1 saying what a good wife she was1 wherefore ,i intend never to forsake her4 ,i pray you for ,god's sake1 all ye my friends1 when you read of the death of my father1 to remember his soul with an ,our ,father and an ,ave ,maria2 and also for your own sake1 that we may so serve ,god as to attain a happy life and the blessing of a good end4 ,for it is not possible for one who has lived well to depart ill from this world1 for ,god is full of compassion4 ,through which may ,he grant us1 after this pitiful life1 the joy of everlasting salvation--in the name of the ,father1 the ,son1 and the ,holy ,ghost1 at the beginning and at the end1 one ,eternal ,governor4 ,amen4 ,the last sentences of this may seem to share in the character of the vain repetitions of words with which professed believers are only too apt to weary and disgust others4 ,they are in any case commonplaces3 the image has taken the place of the object2 the ,father in heaven is not considered so much as the paternal governor of the inner life as the ruler of a future life and of this world4 ,the use of such phrases is as much idolatry as the worship of statue and picture1 or as little1 if the words are repeated1 as ,i think in this case they were1 out of a feeling of awe and reverence for preceding mental impressions and experiences1 and not because their repetition in itself was counted for righteousness4 ,their use1 if this was so1 is no more to be found fault with than the contemplation of pictures or statues of holy personages in order to help the mind to attend to their ensample1 or the reading of a poem1 to fill the mind with ennobling emotions4 ,idolatry is natural and right in children and other simple souls among primitive peoples or elsewhere4 ,it is a stage in mental development4 ,lovers pass through the idolatrous stage of their passion just as children cut their teeth4 ,it is a pity to see individuals or nations remain childish in this respect just as much as in any other1 or to see them return to it in their decrepitude4 ,but a temper1 a spirit1 an influence cannot easily be apprehended apart from examples and images2 and perhaps the clearest reason is only the exercise of an infinitely elastic idolatry1 which with sprightly efficiency finds and worships good in everything1 just as the devout1 in ,drer's youth1 found sermons in stones1 carved stones representing saint1 bishop1 or ,virgin4 ,and ,drer all his life long continued to produce pictures and engravings which were intended to preach such sermons4 ,goethe admirably remarks3 ,superstition is the poetry of life2 the poet therefore suffers no harm from being superstitious4 7,aberglaube47 ,superstition and idolatry are an expenditure of emotion of a kind and degree which the true facts would not warrant2 poetry when least superstitious is a like exercise of the emotions in order to raise and enhance them2 superstition when most poetical unconsciously effects the same thing4 ,this glimpse he gives of the way in which death visited his home1 and how the visitation impressed him1 is coloured and glows with that temper of docility which made ,colet school himself so severely1 and was the source of ,michael ,angelo's so fervent outpourings4 ,and all through the accounts which remain of his life1 we may trace the same spirit ever anew setting him to school1 and renewing his resolution to learn both from his feelings and from his senses4 ,,xi ,as ,i took a sentence from ,michael ,angelo1 ,i will now take a sentence from ,drer1 one showing strongly that evangelical strain so characteristic of him1 born of his intuitive sense for human solidarity4 ,after an argument1 which will be found on page #cjf1 he concludes3 ,it is right1 therefore1 for one man to teach another4 ,he that doeth so joyfully1 upon him shall much be bestowed by ,god4#ad ,these last words1 like the last phrases of my former quotation from him1 may stand perhaps in the way of some1 as nowadays they may easily sound glib or irreverent4 ,but are we less convinced that only tasks done joyfully1 as labours of love1 deserve the reward of fuller and finer powers1 and obtain it8 ,when ,drer thought of ,god1 he did not only think of a mythological personage resembling an old king2 he thought of a mind1 an intention1 for ,god is perfect in goodness4 ,words so easily come to obscure what they were meant to reveal2 and if we think how the notion of perfect goodness rules and sways such a man's mind1 we shall not wonder that he did not stumble at the omnipotency which revolts us1 cowed as we are by the presence of evil4 ,the old gentleman dressed like a king2--this was not the part of his ideas about ,god which occupied ,drer's mind4 ,he accepted it1 but did not think about it3 it filled what would otherwise have been a blank in his mind and in the minds of those about him4 ,but he was constantly anxious about what he ought to do and study in order to fulfil the best in himself1 and about what ought to be done by his town1 his nation1 and the civilisation that then was1 in order to turn man's nature and the world to an account answerable to the beauty of their fairer aspects4 ,god was the will that commanded that consummation devoutly to be wished4 ,obedience to ,his law revealed in the ,bible was the means by which this command could be carried out2 and to a man turning from the ,church as it then existed to the newly translated ,bible texts1 the commands of ,god as declared in those texts seemed of necessity reason itself compared with the commands of the ,popes2 were1 in fact1 infinitely more reasonable1 infinitely more akin to a good man's mind and will4 ,luther's revolt is for us now characterised by those elements in it which proved inadequate--were irrational2 but then these were insignificant in comparison with the light which his downright honesty shed on the monstrous and amazingly irrational ,church4 ,this huge closed society of bigots and worldlings which arrogated to itself all powers human and divine1 and used them according to the lusts and intemperance of an ,alexander ,borgia1 a ,julius ,,ii41 and a ,leo ,x41 was that farce perception of which made ,rabelais shake the world with laughter1 and which roused such consuming indignation in ,luther and ,calvin that they created the gloomy puritanical asylums in which millions of ,germans1 ,english1 and ,americans were shut up for two hundred years1 as ,matthew ,arnold puts it4 ,but ,drer was not so immured3 even ,luther at heart neither was himself1 nor desired that others should be1 prevented from enjoying the free use of their intellectual powers4 ,it was because he was less perspicacious than ,erasmus that he did not see that this was what he was inevitably doing in his wrath and in his haste4 ,,xii ,erasmus was1 perhaps1 the man in ,europe who at that time displayed most docility2 the man whom neither sickness1 the desire for wealth and honour1 the hope to conquer1 the lust to engage in disputes1 nor the adverse chances that held him half his life in debt and necessitous straits1 and kept him all his life long a vagrant1 constantly upon the road--the man in whom none of these things could weaken a marvellous assiduity to learn and help others to learn4 ,he it was who had most kinship with ,drer among the artists then alive2 for ,drer is very eminent among them for this temper of docility4 ,it is interesting to see how he once turned to ,erasmus in a devout meditation1 written in the journal he kept during his journey to the ,netherlands4 ,his voice comes to us from an atmosphere charged with the electric influence of the greatest ,reformer1 ,martin ,luther1 who had just disappeared1 no man knew why or whither2 though all men suspected foul play4 ,in his daily life1 by sweetness of manner1 by gentle dignity and modesty1 ,drer showed his religion1 the admiration and love that bound his life1 in a way that at all times and in all places commands applause4 ,the burning indignation of the following passage may in times of spiritual peace or somnolence appear over-wrought and uncouth4 ,we must remember that all that ,drer loved had been bound by his religion to the teaching and inspiration of ,jesus1 and had become inseparable from it4 ,all that he loved--learning1 clear and orderly thought1 honesty1 freedom to express the worship of his heart without its being turned to a mockery by cynical monk1 priest1 or prelate2--these things directly1 and indirectly art itself1 seemed to him threatened by the corruption of the ,papal power4 ,we must remember this2 for we shall naturally feel1 as ,erasmus did1 that the path of martyrdom was really a short cut1 which a wider view of the surrounding country would have shown him to be likely to prove the longest way in the end4 ,indeed the world is not altogether yet arrived where he thought ,erasmus could bring it in less than two years4 ,and ,luther himself returned to the scene and was active1 without any such result1 a dozen years and more4 ,oh all ye pious ,christian men1 help me deeply to bewail this man1 inspired of ,god1 and to pray ,him yet again to send us an enlightened man4 ,oh ,erasmus of ,rotterdam1 where wilt thou stop8 ,behold how the wicked tyranny of worldly power1 the might of darkness1 prevails4 ,hear1 thou knight of ,christ6 ,ride on by the side of the ,lord ,jesus4 ,guard the truth4 ,attain the martyr's crown4 ,already indeed art thou a little old man1 and myself have heard thee say that thou givest thyself but two years more wherein thou mayest still be fit to accomplish somewhat4 ,lay out the same well for the good of the ,gospel1 and of the true ,christian faith1 and make thyself heard4 ,so1 as ,christ says1 shall the ,gates of ,hell in no wise prevail against thee4 ,and if here below thou wert to be like thy master ,christ1 and sufferest infamy at the hands of the liars of this time1 and didst die a little sooner1 then wouldst thou the sooner pass from death unto life and be glorified in ,christ4 ,for if thou drinkest of the cup which ,he drank of1 with ,him shalt thou reign and judge with justice those who ,,have dealt unrighteously4 ,oh6 ,erasmus6 cleave to this1 that ,god ,himself may be thy praise1 even as it is written of ,david4 ,for thou mayest1 yea1 verily thou mayest overthrow ,goliath4 ,because ,god stands by the ,holy ,christian ,church1 even as ,he alone upholds the ,roman ,church1 according to ,his godly will4 ,may ,he help us to everlasting salvation1 who is ,god the ,father1 the ,son1 and ,holy ,ghost1 one eternal ,god6 ,amen66 ,with ,him shalt thou reign and judge with justice those that have dealt unrighteously4 ,this will seem to many a mere cry for revenge2 and so perhaps it was4 ,still it may have been1 as it seems to me to have been1 uttered rather in the spirit of ,moses' ,forgive their sin--and if not1 blot me1 ,i pray ,thee1 out of ,thy book2 or the ,heaven and earth shall pass away1 but my words shall not pass away of ,jesus4 ,if the necessity for victory was uppermost1 the opportunity for revenge may scarcely have been present to ,drer's mind4 ,it is now more generally recognised than in ,luther's day that however sweet vengeance may be1 it is not admirable1 either in ,god or man4 ,the total impression produced by ,drer's life and work must help each to decide for himself which sense he considers most likely4 ,the truth1 as in most questions of history1 remains for ever in the balance1 and cannot be ascertained4 ,,xiii ,i have called docility the necessary midwife of ,genius1 for so it is2 and religion is a discipline that constrains us to learn4 ,the religion of ,jesus constrains us to learn the most difficult things1 binds us to the most arduous tasks that the mind of man sets itself1 as a lover is bound by his affection to accomplish difficult feats for his mistress' sake4 ,such tasks as ,michael ,angelo and ,drer set themselves require that the lover's eagerness and zest shall not be exhausted2 and to keep them fresh and abundant1 in spite of cross circumstances1 a discipline of the mind and will is required4 ,this is what they found in the worship of ,jesus4 ,the influence of this religious hopefulness and self-discipline on the creative power prevents its being exhausted1 perverted1 or embittered2 and in order that it may effect this perfectly1 that influence must be abundant not only within the artist1 as it was in ,michael ,angelo and ,drer1 but in the world about them4 ,this1 then1 is the value of religious influence to creative art3 and though we to-day necessarily regard the personages1 localities1 and events of the creed as coming under the category of things that are not1 we may still as fervently hope and expect that the things of that category may bring to nought the things that are1 including the superstitious reverence for the creed and its unprovable statements2 for has not the victory in human things often been with the things that were not1 but which were thus ardently desired and expected8 ,to inquire which of those things are best calculated to advance and nourish creative power1 and in what manner1 should engage the artist's attention far more than it has of late years4 ,for what he loves1 what he hopes1 and what he expects would seem1 if we study past examples1 to exercise as important an influence on a man's creative power as his knowledge of1 and respect for1 the materials and instruments which he controls do upon his executive capacity4 ,the universe in which man finds himself may be evil1 but not everything it contains is so3 then it must for ever remain our only wisdom to labour to transform those parts which we judge to be evil into likeness or conformity to those we judge to be good3 and surely he who neglects the forces of hope and adoration in that effort1 neglects the better half of his practical strength8 ,the central proposition of ,christianity1 that this end can only be attained by contemplation and imitation of an example1 is1 we shall in another place 7pp4 #cje-cab7 find1 maintained as true in regard to art by ,drer1 and by ,reynolds1 our greatest writer on aesthetics4 ,these great artists1 so dissimilar in the outward aspects of their creations1 agree in considering that the only way of advancement open to the aspirant is the attempt to form himself on the example of others1 by imitating them not slavishly or mechanically1 but in the same spirit in which they imitated their forerunners3 even as the ,christian is bound to seek union with ,christ in the same spirit or way in which ,jesus had achieved union with his ,father--that is1 by laying down life to take it again1 in meekness and lowliness of heart4 ,docility is the sovran help to perfection for ,drer and ,reynolds1 and more or less explicitly for all other great artists who have treated of these questions4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #aa3 ,of course all that may have been meant by the phrase the ,evangelist of ,art is that ,drer illustrated the narrative of the ,passion2 but by this he is not distinguished from many others1 and the phrase is suggestive of far more4 ,footnote #ab3 ,froude's ,life of ,erasmus1 ,lecture vi4 ,footnote #ac3 ,wordsworth's ,translation1 ,footnote #ad3 ,literary ,remains of ,albrecht ,drer1 p4 #agf4 ,,part ,,ii ,d,,rer',s ,,life ,,in ,,relation ,,to ,,the ,,times ,,in ,,which ,,he ,,lived ,illustration ,,chapter ,i ,d,,rer',s ,,origin1 ,,youth ,,and ,,education ,i ,who was ,drer8 ,he has told us himself very simply1 and more fully than men of his type generally do2 for he was not1 like ,montaigne1 one whose chief study was himself4 ,yet1 though he has done this1 it is not easy for us to fully understand him4 ,it is perhaps impossible to place oneself in the centre of that horizon which was of necessity his and belonged to his day1 a vast circle from which men could no more escape than we from ours2 this cage of iron ignorance in which every human soul is trapped1 and to widen and enlarge which every heroic soul lives and dies4 ,this cage appeared to his eyes very different from what it does to ours2 yet it has always been a cage1 and is only lost sight of at times when the light from within seems to flow forth1 and with its radiant sapphire heaven of buoyancy and desire to veil the eternal bars4 ,it is well to remind ourselves that ignorance was the most momentous1 the most cruel condition of his life1 as of our own2 and that the effort to relieve himself of its pressure1 either by the pursuit of knowledge1 or by giving spur and bridle to the imagination that it might course round him dragging the great woof of illusion1 and tent him in the ethereal dream of the soul's desire1 was the constant effort and resource of his days4 ,,ii ,at the age of fifty-three he took the pen and commenced3 ,in the year #aebd1 ,i1 ,albrecht ,drer the younger1 have put together from my father's papers the facts as to whence he was1 how he came hither1 lived here1 and drew to a happy end4 ,god be gracious to him and us6 ,amen4 ,like his relatives1 ,albrecht ,drer the elder was born in the kingdom of ,hungary1 in a little village named ,eytas1 situated not far from a little town called ,gyula1 eight miles below ,grosswardein2 and his kindred made their living from horses and cattle4 ,my father's father was called ,anton ,drer2 he came as a lad to a goldsmith in the said little town and learnt the craft under him4 ,he afterwards married a girl named ,elizabeth1 who bare him a daughter1 ,katharina1 and three sons4 ,the first son he named ,albrecht2 he was my dear father4 ,he too became a goldsmith1 a pure and skilful man4 ,the second son he called ,ladislaus2 he was a saddler4 ,his son is my cousin ,niklas ,drer1 called ,niklas the ,hungarian1 who is settled at ,kln4 ,he also is a goldsmith1 and learnt the craft here in ,nrnberg with my father4 ,the third son he called ,john4 ,him he set to study1 and he afterwards became a parson at ,grosswardein1 and continued there thirty years4 ,so ,albrecht ,drer1 my dear father1 came to ,germany4 ,he had been a long time with the great artists in the ,netherlands4 ,at last he came hither to ,nrnberg in the year1 as reckoned from the birth of ,christ1 #adee1 on ,s4 ,elogius' day 7,june #be74 ,and on the same day ,philip ,pirkheimer had his marriage feast at the ,veste1 and there was a great dance under the big lime tree4 ,for a long time after that my dear father1 ,albrecht ,drer1 served my grandfather1 old ,hieronymus ,holper1 till the year reckoned #adfg after the birth of ,christ4 ,my grandfather then gave him his daughter1 a pretty upright girl1 fifteen years old1 named ,barbara2 and he was wedded to her eight days before ,s4 ,vitus 7,june #h74 ,it may also be mentioned that my grandmother1 my mother's mother1 was the daughter of ,oellinger of ,weissenburg1 and her name was ,kunigunde4 ,and my dear father had by his marriage with my dear mother the following children born--which ,i set down here word for word as he wrote it in his book3 ,here follow eighteen items1 only one of which1 the third1 is of interest4 #c4 ,item1 in the year #adga after the birth of ,christ1 in the sixth hour of the day1 on ,s4 ,prudentia's day1 a ,tuesday in ,rogation ,week 7,may #ba71 my wife bare me my second son4 ,his godfather was ,anton ,koburger1 and he named him ,albrecht after me1 c4 c4 ,all these1 my brothers and sisters1 my dear father's children1 are now dead1 some in their childhood1 others as they were growing up2 only we three brothers still live1 so long as ,god will1 namely3 ,i1 ,albrecht1 and my brother ,andreas and my brother ,hans1 the third of the name1 my father's children4 ,this ,albrecht ,drer the elder passed his life in great toil and stern hard labour1 having nothing for his support save what he earned with his hand for himself1 his wife and his children1 so that he had little enough4 ,he underwent moreover manifold afflictions1 trials1 and adversities4 ,but he won just praise from all who knew him1 for he lived an honourable1 ,christian life1 was a man of patient spirit1 mild and peaceable to all1 and very thankful towards ,god4 ,for himself he had little need of company and worldly pleasures2 he was also of few words1 and was a ,god-fearing man4 ,,iii ,we shall1 ,i think1 often do well1 when considering the superb ostentation of ,drer's workmanship1 with its superabundance of curve and flourish1 its delight in its own ease and grace1 to think of those young men among his ancestors who made their living from horses on the wind-swept plains of ,hungary4 ,the perfect control which it is the delight of lads brought up and developing under such conditions to obtain over the galloping steed1 is similar to the control which it gratified ,drer to perfect over the dashing stroke of pen or brush1 which1 however swift and impulsive1 is yet brought round and performs to a nicety a predetermined evolution4 ,and the way he puts a little portrait of himself1 finely dressed1 into his most important pictures1 may also carry our thoughts away to the banks of the ,danube where it winds and straggles over the steppes1 to picture some young horse-breeder1 whose costume and harness are his only wealth2 who rides out in the morning as the cock-bustard that1 having preened himself1 paces before the hen birds on the plains that he can scour when his wings1 which are slow in the air1 join with his strong legs to make nothing of grassy leagues on leagues4 ,and first1 this life with its free sweeping horizon1 and the swallow-like curves of its gallops for the sake of galloping1 or those which the long lashes of its whips trace in deploying1 and which remind us of the lithe tendrils in which terminate ,drer's ornamental flourishes2 this life in which the eye is trained to watch the lasso1 as with well-calculated address it swirls out and drops over the frighted head of an unbroken colt2--this life is first pent up in a little goldsmith's shop1 in a country even to-day famous for the beauty and originality of its peasant jewelry3 and here it is trained to follow and answer the desire of the bright dark eyes of girls in love2--in love1 where love and the beauty that inspires it are the gifts of nature most guarded and most honoured1 from which are expected the utmost that is conceived of delicacy in delight by a virile and healthy race4 ,a pure and skilful man4 ,patient already has this life become1 for a jeweller can scarcely be made of impatient stuff2 patient even before the admixture of ,german blood when ,albert the elder married his ,barbara ,holper4 ,the two eldest sons were made jewellers2 but the third1 ,john1 is set to study and becomes a parson1 as if already learning and piety stood next in the estimation of this life after thrift1 skill and the creation of ornament4 ,and ,germany boasts of this life beyond that of any of her sons2 but her blood was probably of small importance to the efficiency that it attained to in the great ,albert ,drer4 ,the ,german name of ,drer or ,threr1 a door1 is quite as likely to be the translation1 correct or otherwise1 of some ,hungarian name1 as it is an indication that the family had originally emigrated from ,germany4 ,in any case1 a large admixture by intermarriage of ,slavonic blood would correspond to the unique distinction among ,germans1 attained in the dignity1 sweetness and fineness which signalised ,drer4 ,of course1 in such matters no sane man looks for proof2 but neither will he reject a probable suggestion which may help us to understand the nature of an exceptional man4 ,,iv ,drer continues to speak of his childhood3 ,and my father took special pleasure in me1 because he saw that ,i was diligent to learn4 ,so he sent me to school1 and when ,i had learnt to read and write he took me away from it1 and taught me the goldsmith's craft4 ,but when ,i could work neatly1 my liking drew me rather to painting than to goldsmith's work1 so ,i laid it before my father2 but he was not well pleased1 regretting the time lost while ,i had been learning to be a goldsmith4 ,still he let it be as ,i wished1 and in #adhf 7reckoned from the birth of ,christ7 on ,s4 ,andrew's day 7,november #cj7 my father bound me apprentice to ,michael ,wolgemut1 to serve him three years long4 ,during that time ,god gave me diligence1 so that ,i learnt well1 but ,i had much to suffer from his lads4 ,when ,i had finished my learning my father sent me off1 and ,i stayed away four years till he called me back again4 ,as ,i had gone forth in the year #adij after ,easter 7,easter ,sunday was ,april #aa71 so now ,i came back again in #adid as it is reckoned after ,whitsuntide 7,whit ,sunday was ,may #ah74 ,erasmus tells us that ,german disorders were partly due to the natural fierceness of the race1 partly to the division into so many separate ,states1 and partly to the tendency of the people to serve as mercenaries4 ,that there were many swaggerers and bullies about1 we learn from ,drer's prints4 ,in every crowd these gentlemen in leathern tights1 with other ostentatious additions to their costume1 besides poniards and daggers to emphasise the brutal male1 strut straddle-legged and self-assured2 and of course raw lads and loutish prentices yielded them the sincerest flattery4 ,we can well understand that the model boy1 to whom ,god had given diligence1 with his long hair lovely as a girl's1 and his consciousness of being nearly always in the right1 had much to suffer from his fellow prentices4 ,besides1 very likely1 he already consorted with ,willibald ,pirkheimer and his friends1 who were the aristocrats of the town4 ,and though he may have been meek and gentle1 there must have appeared in everything he did and was an assertion of superiority1 all the more galling for its being difficult to define and as ready to blush as the innocent truth herself4 ,v ,it is much argued as to where ,drer went when his father sent him off4 ,we have the direct statement of a contemporary1 ,christopher ,scheurl1 that he visited ,colmar and ,basle2 and what is well nigh as good1 for a visit to ,venice4 ,for ,scheurl wrote in #aejh3 ,qui quum nuper in ,italiam rediset1 tum a ,venetis1 tum a ,bononiensibus artificibus1 me saepe interprete cansalutatus est alter ,apelles4 ,when he lately returned to ,italy1 he was often greeted as a second ,apelles1 by the craftsmen both of ,venice and ,bologna 7,i acting as their interpreter74 ,before we accept any of these statements it is well to remember how easily quite intimate friends make mistakes as to where one has been and when2 even about journeys that in one's own mind either have been or should have been turning-points in one's life4 ,for they will attribute to the past experiences which were never ours1 or forget those which we consider most unforgettable4 ,no one who has paid attention to these facts will consider that historians prove so much or so well as they often fancy themselves to do4 ,in the present case what is really remarkable is1 that none of these sojournings of the young artist in foreign art centres seem to have produced such a change in his art as can now be traced with assurance4 ,at ,colmar he saw the masterpieces and the brothers of the admirable ,martin1 as he always calls ,schongauer4 ,at ,basle there is still preserved a cut wood-block representing ,st4 ,jerome1 on the back of which is an authentic signature2 there is besides a series of uncut wood-blocks1 the designs on which it is easy to imagine to have been produced by the travelling journeyman that ,drer then seemed to the printers and painters of the towns he passed through4 ,by those processes by which anything can be made of anything1 much has been done to give substantiality to the implied first visit to ,venice4 ,there are drawings which were probably made there1 representing ladies resembling those in pictures by ,carpaccio as to their garments1 the dressing of their hair1 and the type of their faces4 ,of course it is not impossible that such a lady or ladies may have visited ,nuremberg1 or been seen by the young wanderer at ,basle or elsewhere4 ,and the resemblance between a certain drawing in the ,albertina and one of the carved lions in red marble now on the ,piazzetta de' ,leoni does not count for much1 when we consider that there is nothing in the workmanship of these heads to suggest that they were done after sculptured originals2--the manes1 c41 being represented by an easy penman's convention1 as they might have been whether the models were living or merely imagined4 ,nor is there any good reason for dating the drawings of sites in the ,tyrol1 supposed to have been sketched on the road1 rather this year than another4 ,lastly1 the famous sentence in a letter written from ,venice during ,drer's authenticated visit there1 in #aejf1 may be construed in more than one sense4 ,the passage is generally rather curtailed when quoted4 ,he 7,giovanni ,bellini7 is very old1 but is still the best painter of them all4 ,the thing that pleased me so well eleven years ago1 pleases me now no more2 if ,i had not seen it for myself1 ,i should never have believed any one who told me4 ,you must know1 too1 that there are many better painters here than ,master ,jacob 7,jacopo de' ,barbari7 is abroad2 yet ,anton ,kolb would swear an oath that no better painter than ,jacob lives4 ,if the thing that pleased so well eleven years before was a picture or pictures by ,master ,jacob or by ,andrea ,mantegna1 as is usually supposed1 the phrase1 ,if ,i had not seen it for myself ,i should never have believed any one who told me is extremely strange4 ,it is not usual to expect to change one's opinion of a work of art by hearsay1 or to imagine others1 when they have not done so1 predicting with assurance that we shall change a decided opinion upon the merits of a work of art2 yet one of these two suppositions seems certainly to be implied4 ,i do not say that it is impossible to conceive of either1 only that such cursory reference to such conceptions is extremely strange4 ,again1 if work by ,jacopo de' ,barbari is referred to1 it might very well have been seen elsewhere than at ,venice eleven years ago2 and indeed the last sentence in the passage might be taken to imply as much4 ,to me at least the truth appears to be that these hints1 which we may well have misunderstood1 point to something which the imagination is only too delighted to entertain4 ,it is a charming dream--the young ,drer1 just of age1 trudging from town to town1 designing wood-blocks for a printer here1 questioning the brothers of the admirable ,martin there1 or again painting a sign in yet another place1 such as ,holbein painted for the schoolmaster at ,basle2 and at last arriving in ,venice--,venice untouched as yet by the conflicting ideals that were even then being brought to birth anew3 ,mediaeval ,venice1 such as we see her in the pictures of ,gentile ,bellini and ,carpaccio4 ,one painting of real importance in the work of ,drer remains to us from this period3 the greatest of modern critics has described it and its effect on him in a way which would make any second attempt impertinent4 ,i consider as invaluable ,albrecht ,drer's portrait of himself painted in #adic1 when he was in his twenty-second year4 ,it is a bust half life-size1 showing the two hands and the forearms4 ,crimson cap with short narrow strings1 the throat bare to below the collar bone1 an embroidered shirt1 the folds of the sleeves tied underneath with peach-coloured ribbons1 and a blue-grey1 fur-edged cloak with yellow laces1 compose a dainty dress befitting a well-bred youth4 ,in his hand he significantly carries a blue eryngo1 called in ,german ,mannstreu4 ,he has a serious1 youthful face1 the mouth and chin covered with an incipient beard4 ,the whole splendidly drawn1 the composition simple1 grand and harmonious2 the execution perfect and in every way worthy of ,drer1 though the colour is very thin1 and has cracked in some places4 ,such is the figure which we may imagine making its way among the crowd in ,gentile ,bellini's ,procession of the ,true ,cross before ,st4 ,mark's1 with eyes all wonder and lips often consciously imprisoning the ,german tongue1 which cannot make itself understood4 ,how comes he so finely dressed1 the son of the modest ,nuremberg goldsmith8 ,has he won the friendship of some rich burgher prince at ,augsburg1 or ,strasburg1 or ,basle8 ,has he been enabled to travel in his suite as far as ,venice8 ,or has he earned a large sum for painting some lord's or lady's portrait1 which1 if it were not lost1 would now stand as the worthy compeer of this splendid portrait of the true man far from home2 true to that home only1 or true to ,agnes ,frey8--for some suppose the sprig of eryngo to signify that he was already betrothed to her4 ,or perhaps he has joined ,willibald ,pirkheimer at ,basle or elsewhere1 and they two1 crossing the ,alps together1 have become friends for life8 ,will they part here ere long1 the young burgher prince to proceed to the ,universities of ,padua and ,mantua1 the future great painter to trudge back over the ,alps1 getting a lift now and again in waggon or carriage or on pillion8 ,let the man of pretentious science say it is bootless to ask such questions2 those who ask them know that it is delightful2 know that it is the true way to make the past live for them2 guess that would historians more generally ask them1 their books would be less often dry as dust4 ,,vi ,it may be that to this period belongs the meeting with ,jacopo de' ,barbari to which a passage in his ,,ms4 books 7now in the ,british ,museum7 refers3 and that already he began to be exercised on the subject of a canon of proportions for the human figure4 ,in the chapter which ,i devote to his studies on this subject it will be seen how the determination to work the problem out by experiment1 since ,jacopo refused to reveal1 and ,vitruvius only hinted at the secret1 led to his discovering something of far more value than it is probable that either could have given him4 ,and yet the belief that there was a hidden secret probably hindered him from fully realising the importance of his discovery1 or reaping such benefit from it as he otherwise might have done4 ,how often has not the belief that those of old time knew what is ignored to-day1 prevented men from taking full advantage of the conquests over ignorance that they have made themselves6 ,because what they know is not so much as they suppose might be or has been known1 they fail to recognise the most that has yet been known--the best foundation for a new building that has yet been discovered--and search for what they possess1 and fail to rival those whose superiority over themselves is a delusion of their own hearts4 ,so early ,drer may have begun this life-long labour which1 though not wholly vain1 was never really crowned to the degree it merited3 while others living in more fertile lands reaped what they had not sown1 he could only plough and scatter seed4 ,as ,raphael is supposed to have said1 all that was lacking to him was knowledge of the antique4 ,perhaps many will blame me for writing1 unlearned1 as ,i am2 in my opinion they are not wrong2 they speak truly4 ,for ,i myself had rather hear and read a learned man and one famous in this art than write of it myself1 being unlearned4 ,howbeit ,i can find none such who hath written aught about how to form a canon of human proportions1 save one man1 ,jacopo 7de' ,barbari7 by name1 born at ,venice and a charming painter4 ,he showed me the figures of a man and woman1 which he had drawn according to a canon of proportions2 and now ,i would rather be shown what he meant 7i4e41 upon what principles the proportions were constructed7 than behold a new kingdom4 ,if ,i had it 7his canon71 ,i would put it into print in his honour1 for the use of all men4 ,then1 however1 ,i was still young and had not heard of such things before4 ,howbeit ,i was very fond of art1 so ,i set myself to discover how such a canon might be wrought out4 ,for this aforesaid ,jacopo1 as ,i clearly saw1 would not explain to me the principles upon which he went4 ,accordingly ,i set to work on my own idea and read ,vitruvius1 who writes somewhat about the human figure4 ,thus it was from1 or out of1 these two men aforesaid that ,i took my start1 and thence1 from day to day1 have ,i followed up my search according to my own notions4 ,,vii ,when ,i returned home1 ,hans ,prey treated with my father and gave me his daughter1 ,mistress ,agnes by name1 and with her he gave me two hundred florins1 and we were wedded2 it was on ,monday before ,margaret's 7,july #g7 in the year #adid4 ,the general acceptance of the gouty and irascible ,pirkheimer's defamation of ,frau ,drer as a miser and a shrew called forth a display of ingenuity on the part of ,professor ,thausing to prove the contrary4 ,and ,i must confess that if he has not quite done that1 he seems to me to have very thoroughly discredited ,pirkheimer's ungallant abuse4 ,sir ,martin ,conway bids us notice that ,drer speaks of his dear father and his dear mother and even of his dear father-in-law1 but that he never couples that adjective with his wife's name4 ,it is very dangerous to draw conclusions from such a fact1 which may be merely an accident3 or may1 if it represents a habit of ,drer's1 bear precisely the opposite significance4 ,for some men are proud to drop such outward marks of affection1 in cases where they know that every day proves to every witness that they are not needed4 ,he also considers that her portraits show her1 when young1 to have been empty-headed1 when older1 a frigid shrew4 ,for my own part1 if the portrait at ,bremen 7see opposite7 represents mein ,angnes1 as its resemblance to the sketch at ,vienna 7see illus47 convinces me it does1 ,i cannot accept either of these conclusions arrived at by the redoubtable science of physiognomy4 ,the ,bremen portrait shows us a refined1 almost an eccentric type of beauty2 one can easily believe it to have been possessed by a person of difficult character1 but one certainly who must have had compensating good qualities4 ,the mein ,angnes on the sketch may well be set against the absent dears in the other mentions her husband made of her1 especially when we consider that he couples this adjective with the ,emperor's name1 my dear ,prince ,max4 ,of her relations to him nothing is known except what ,pirkheimer wrote in his rage1 when he was writing things which are demonstrably false4 ,we know1 however1 that she was capable1 pious1 and thrifty2 and on several occasions1 in the ,netherlands1 shared in the honours done to her husband4 ,it is natural to suppose that as they were childless1 there may have existed a moral equivalent to this infertility2 but also1 with a man such as we know ,drer to have been1 and a woman in every case not bad1 have we not reason to expect that this moral barrenness which may have afflicted their union was in some large measure conquered by mutual effort and discipline1 and bore from time to time those rarer flowers whose beauty and sweetness repay the conscious culture of the soul8 ,it seems difficult to imagine that a man who succeeded in charming so many different acquaintances1 and in remaining life-long friends with the testy and inconsiderate ,pirkheimer1 should have altogether failed to create a relation kindly and even beautiful with his ,agnes1 whose portrait we surely have at her best in the drawing at ,bremen4 ,considerations as to the general position of married women in those days need not prevent us of our natural desire to think as well as possible of ,drer and his circumstances4 ,we know that for a great many men the wife was not simply counted among their goods and chattels1 or regarded as a kind of superior servant4 ,we are able to take a peep at many a fireside of those days1 where the relations that obtained1 however different in certain outward characters1 might well shame the greater number of the respectable even in the present year of grace4 ,we know what ,luther was in these respects2 and have rather more than less reason to expect from the refined and gracious ,drer the creation of a worthy and kindly home4 ,why should we expect him to have been less successful than his parents in these respects8 ,illustration3 ,,agnes ,,frey4 ,d,,rer',s ,,wife 787--,silver-point drawing heightened with white on a dun paper4 ,kunsthalle1 ,bremen ,illustration3 ,,mein ,,angnes--,pen sketch of the artist's wife1 in the ,albertina at ,vienna ,,viii ,some time after the marriage it happened that my father was so ill with dysentery that no one could stop it4 ,and when he saw death before his eyes he gave himself willingly to it1 with great patience1 and he commended my mother to me1 and exhorted me to live in a manner pleasing to ,god4 ,he received the ,holy ,sacraments and passed away ,christianly 7as ,i have described at length in another book7 in the year #aejb1 after midnight1 before ,s4 ,matthew's eve 7,september #bj74 ,god be gracious and merciful to him4 ,the only leaf of the other book referred to that has survived is that which ,i have already quoted at length4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,world ,,in ,,which ,,he ,,lived ,i ,now let us consider what the world was like in which this virile1 accurate and persevering spirit had grown up4 ,over and over again1 the story of the ,new ,birth has been told2 how it began in ,france1 and met an untimely fate at the hands of ,english invaders1 then took refuge in ,italy1 where it grew to be the wonder of the world2 and how the corruption of the ruling classes and of the ,church1 with the indignation and rebellion that this gave rise to1 combined to frustrate the promise of earlier days4 ,when the ,roman ,empire gradually became an anarchy of hostile fragments1 every large monastery1 every small town1 girded itself with walls and tended to become the germ of a new civilisation4 ,popes1 kings1 and great lords1 haunted by reminiscence of the vanished empire1 made spasmodic attempts to subject such centres to their rule and tax them for their maintenance4 ,in the first times1 the ,church--the ,see of ,rome--made by far the most successful attempt to get its supremacy acknowledged1 and had therefore fewer occasions to resort to violence4 ,it was more respected and more respectable than the other powers which claimed to rule and tax these immured and isolated communities dotted over ,europe2 but as time went on1 the ,church became less and less beneficent1 more and more tyrannical4 ,meanwhile kings and emperors1 having learned wisdom by experience1 found themselves in a position to take advantage of the growing bad odour of the ,church2 and by favouring the civil communities and creating a stable hierarchy among the class of lords and barons from which they had emerged1 were at last able to face the ,church1 with its protgs1 the religious communities1 on an equal footing4 ,the religious communities1 owing to the vow of celibacy1 had become more and more stagnant1 while the civil communities increased in power to adapt themselves to the age4 ,all that was virile and creative combined in the towns2 all that was inadequate1 sterile1 useless1 coagulated in the monasteries1 which thus became cesspools1 and ultimately took on the character of festering sores by which the civil bodies which had at first been purged into them were endangered4 ,luther tells us how there was a ,bishop of ,wrzburg who used to say when he saw a rogue1 ',to the cloister with you4 ,thou art useless to ,god or man4' ,he meant that in the cloister were only hogs and gluttons1 who did nothing but eat and drink and sleep1 and were of no more profit than as many rats4 ,and the loathing that another of these sties created in the young ,erasmus1 and the difficulty he had to escape from the clutches of its inmates--never feeling safe till the ,pope had intervened--show us that by their wealth and by the engine of their malice1 the confessional 7which they had usurped from the regular clergy71 they were as formidable as they were useless4 ,it became necessary that this antiquated system of social drainage should be superseded4 ,in ,england and ,germany it was swept away4 ,in centres like ,nuremberg1 the desire for reformation and the horror of false doctrine were grounded in practical experience of intolerable inconveniences1 not in a clear understanding of the questions at issue4 ,intellectually1 the leaders of the ,reformation had no better foundation than those they opposed3 for them1 as for their opponents1 the question was not to be solved by an appeal to evident truths and experience1 but to historical documents and traditions1 supposed1 to be infallible4 ,for a clear intelligence1 there is nothing to choose between the infallibility of oecumenical councils or of ,popes1 and that of the ,bible4 ,both have been in their time the expression of very worthy and very human sentiments2 both are incapable of rational demonstration4 ,,ii ,scattered over ,europe1 wherever the free intelligence was waking and had rubbed her eyes1 were men who desired that nuisances should be removed and reforms operated without schism or violence4 ,to these ,erasmus spoke4 ,his policy was tentative1 and did not proceed1 like that of other parties1 by declaring that a perfect solution was to hand4 ,luther's action divided these honest1 upright souls1 and would-be children of light1 into three unequal camps4 ,as a rule the downright1 headstrong1 and impatient became reformers4 ,the respectful1 cautious and long-suffering1 such as ,more1 ,warham1 and ,adrian ,,iv41 clung to the ,roman establishment1 were martyred for it or broke their hearts over it4 ,erasmus and a handful of others remained true to a tentative policy1 and1 compared with their contemporaries1 were meek and lowly in heart--became children of light4 ,to them we now look back wistfully1 and wish that they might have been1 if not as numerous as the ,churchmen and ,beformers1 at least a sufficient body to have made their influence an effective force1 with the advantage of more light and more patience that was really theirs4 ,but1 alas6 they only counted as the first dissolvent which set free more corrosive and detrimental acids4 ,the exhilaration of action and battle was for others2 for them the sad conviction that neither side deserved to be trusted with a victory4 ,yet1 beyond the world whose chief interest was the ,reformation1 we may be sure that such men as ,charles ,v41 ,michael ,angelo1 ,rabelais1 ,montaigne1 and all those whom they may be taken to represent1 were in essential agreement with ,erasmus4 ,luther and ,machiavelli alone rejected the ,papacy as such3 the latter's more stringent intellectual development led him also to discard every ideal motive or agent of reform for violent means4 ,he was ready even to regard the passions of men like ,caesar ,borgia1 tyrants in the fullest sense of the word1 as the engines by which civilisation1 learning1 art1 and manners1 might be maintained4 ,whereas ,luther appealed to the passions of common honest men1 the middle classes in fact4 ,it is easy to let either ,luther or ,machiavelli steal away our entire sympathy4 ,on the one hand1 no compromise1 not even the slightest1 seems possible with criminal ruffians such as a ,julius ,,ii4 and an ,alexander ,borgia2 on the other hand1 the power swollen by the tide of minor corruption1 which such men ruled by might1 did come into the hands of a ,leo ,x41 an ,adrian ,,iv42 and though that power was obviously tainted through and through1 it might have been mastered and wielded in the cause of reform4 ,erasmus hoped for this4 ,even ,julius ,,ii4 protected him from the superiors of his convent4 ,even ,julius ,,ii4 patronised ,michael ,angelo and ,raphael and everything that had a definite character in the way of creative power or scholarship2 and could appreciate at least the respect which what he patronised commanded4 ,he could appreciate the respect commanded by the austerity and virtue of those who rebelled against him and denounced his cynical abuse of all his powers1 whether natural or official4 ,he liked to think he had enemies worth beating4 ,such a ruler is a sore temptation to a keen intellect4 ,everything great is formative1 and this ,pope was colossal--a colossal bully and robber if you like--but the good he did by his patronage was real good1 was practical4 ,michael ,angelo and ,raphael could work as splendidly as they desired4 ,erasmus was helped and encouraged4 ,timid honesty is often petty1 does nothing1 criticises and finds fault with artists and with learning1 runs after them like ,sancho ,panza after ,don ,quixote1 is helpless and ridiculous and horribly in the way4 ,leo ,x4 was intelligent and well-meaning2 wisdom herself might hope from such a man4 ,be the throne he is sitting on as monstrous and corrupt a contrivance as it may1 yet it is there1 it does give him authority2 he is on it and dominates the world4 ,it is easy to say1 ,but the period of the ,renascence closed1 its glory died away4 ,suppose ,luther had been as subtle as he was whole-hearted1 and had added to his force of character a delicacy and charm like that of ,st4 ,francis2 or suppose that ,erasmus instead of his schoolfellow ,adrian ,,iv4 had become ,pope2 what a different tale there might have been to tell6 ,who will presume to point out the necessity by which these things were thus and not otherwise8 ,regrets for what 'might have been' are proverbially idle1 cries the historian from whom ,i have chiefly quoted4 ,i do not recollect the proverb1 unless he refers to ,it is no use crying over spilt milk2 but in any case such regrets are far from being necessarily idle4 ,what might have been is even generally what ought to have been2 and no study has been or is likely to be so pregnant for us as the study of the contrast between what was and what ought to have been1 though such studies are inevitably mingled with regrets4 ,we have every reason to regret that the ,reformation was so hasty and ill-considered1 and that the ,papacy was as purblind as it was arrogant4 ,the plant of the ,roman ,church machinery1 which it had taken centuries to lay down1 came into the hands of men who grossly ignored its function and the conditions of its working4 ,they used its power partly for the benefit of the human race1 by patronising art and scholarship2 but chiefly in self-indulgence4 ,if honest intelligence had been given control1 a man so partially equipped for his task would not have been goaded into action2 but only force1 moral or physical1 can act at a disadvantage2 light and reason must have the advantage of dominant position to effect anything immediate4 ,if they are not on the throne1 all they can do is to sow seed1 and bewail the present while looking forward to a better future4 ,now1 most educated men are for tolerance1 and see as ,erasmus saw4 ,we see that ,savonarola and ,luther were not so right as they thought themselves to be2 we see that what they condemned as arrogancy and corruption is partly excusable--is in some measure a condition of efficiency in worldly spheres where one has to employ men already bad4 ,true1 the great princes and cardinals of those days not only connived at corruption and ruled by it1 but often even professed it4 ,still in every epoch1 under all circumstances1 the majority of those who have governed men have more or less cynically employed means that will not bear the light of day4 ,while these magnificoes of the ,renascence do stand alone1 or almost alone1 by the ample generosity of their conception of the objects that power should be exerted in furtherance of2 their outlook on life was more commensurate with the variety and competence of human nature than perhaps that of any ruling class has been before or since4 ,as ,shakespeare is the amplest of poets1 so were theirs the most fruitful of courts4 ,from the great ,medicis to our own ,elizabeth they all partake of a certain grandiose vitality and variety of intention4 ,,iii ,greatness demands self-assertion2 self-assertion is a great virtue even in a ,julius ,,ii4 ,there is a vast deal of humbug in the use we make of the word humility4 ,we talk about ,christ's humility1 but whose self-assertion has ever been more unmitigated8 ,i am the ,way1 the ,truth1 and the ,light4 ,learn of ,me that ,i am meek and lowly1 and ye shall find rest to your souls4 ,no doubt it is the quality of the self asserted that justifies in our eyes the assertion2 humility then is not opposed to self-assertion4 ,when ,michael ,angelo shows that he thinks himself the greatest artist in the world1 he is not necessarily lacking in humility2 nor is ,luther1 asserting the authority of his conscience against the ,pope and ,emperor2 nor ,drer1 saying to us in those little finely-dressed portraits with which he signs his pictures1 ,i am that ,i am--namely1 one of the handsomest of men and the greatest artist north of the ,alps4 ,or when ,erasmus lets us see that he thinks himself the most learned man living1--if he is the most learned1 so much the better that he should know this also as well as the rest4 ,the artist and the scholar were bound to feel gratitude for the corrupt but splendid ,church and courts1 which gave them so much both in the way of maintenance and opportunity4 ,it may be asked1 has all the honesty and the not always evident purity of ,protestantism done so much for the world as those dissolute ,popes and ,princes8 ,and the artist1 judging with a hasty bias perhaps1 is likely to answer no4 ,,iv ,for us nowadays the pith of history seems no more to be the lives of monarchs1 or the fighting of battles1 or even the deliberations of councils2 these things we have more and more come to regard merely as tools and engines for the creation of societies1 homes1 and friends4 ,and so1 though religion and religious machinery dominated the life of those days1 it is not in theological disputes1 neither is it in oecumenical councils and ,popes1 nor in sermons1 reformers1 and synods1 that we find the essence of the soul's life4 ,rather to us1 the pictures1 the statues1 the books1 the furniture1 the wardrobes1 the letters1 and the scandals that have been left behind1 speak to us of those days2 for these we value them4 ,and we are right1 the value of the ,renaissance lies in these things1 ,i say the scandals of those days2 for a part of what comes under that head was perhaps the manifestation of a morality based on a wider experience2 though its association with obvious vices and its opposition to the old and stale ideals gave it an illegitimate character2 while the re-establishment of the more part of those ideals has perpetuated its reproach4 ,there can be no intellectual charity if the machinery and special sentences of current morality are supposed to be final or truly adequate4 ,their tentative and inadequate character1 which every free intelligence recognises1 is what endorses the wisdom of ,jesus'1 saying1 ,judge not that ye be not judged4 ,ordinary honest and good citizens do not realise how much that is in every way superior to the gifts of any single one of themselves is yearly sacrificed and tortured for their preservation as a class4 ,on what agonies of creative and original minds is the safety of their homes based8 ,these respectable ,molochs who devour both the poor and the exceptionally gifted1 and are so little better for their meal1 were during the ,renascence for a time gainsaid and abashed2 yet even then their engines1 the traditional secular and ecclesiastic policies1 were a foreign encumbrance with which the human spirit was loaded1 and which helped to prevent it from reaping the full result of its mighty upheaval4 ,to see things as they are1 and above all to value them for what is most essential in them with regard to the development of our own characters2--that is1 ,i take it1 consciously or unconsciously1 the main effort of the modern spirit4 ,on the world1 the flesh1 and the devil1 we have put new values2 and it was the first assertion of these new values which caused the ,renascence4 ,fine manners1 fine clothes1 and varied social interchange make the world admirable in our eyes1 not at all a bogey to frighten us4 ,health1 frankness1 and abundant exercise make the flesh a pure delight in our eyes2 lastly1 this new-born spirit has made a moral of the devil himself1 and so for us he has lost his terror4 ,rabelais was right when he laughed the old outworn values down1 and declared that women were in the first place female1 men in the first place male2 that the written word should be a self-expression1 a sincerity1 not a task or a catalogue or a penance1 but1 like laughter and speech1 essentially human1 making all men brothers1 doing away with artificial barriers and distinctions1 making the scholar shake in time with the toper1 and doubling the divine up with the losel2 bidding even the lady hold her sides in company with the harlot4 ,eating and drinking were seen to be good in themselves2 the eye and the nose and the palate were not only to be respected but courted2 free love was better than married enmity4 ,no rite1 no church1 no god1 could annihilate these facts or restrain their influence any more than the sea could be tamed4 ,drer was touched with this spirit2 we see it in his fine clothes1 in his collector's rapacity1 above all in his letters to his friend ,pirkheimer--a man more typical of that ,rabelaisian age than ,drer and ,michael ,angelo1 who were both of them not only modern men but men conservative of the best that had been--men in travail for the future1 absorbed by the responsibility of those who create4 ,pirkheimer1 one year ,drer's senior1 was a gross fat man early in life1 enjoying the clinking of goblets1 the music of fork and knife1 and the effrontery of obscene jests4 ,a vain man1 a soldier and a scholar1 pedantic1 irritable1 but in earnest2 a complimenter of ,emperors1 a leader of the reform party1 a partisan of ,luther's1 the friend and correspondent of ,erasmus1 the elective brother of ,drer4 ,the man was typical2 his fellows were in all lands4 ,drer was surprised to find how many of them there were at ,venice--men who would delight ,pirkheimer and delight in him4 ,my friend1 there are so many ,italians here who look exactly like you ,i don't know how it happens6 444 men of sense and knowledge1 good lute players and pipers1 judges of painting1 men of much noble sentiment and honest virtue2 and they show me much honour and friendship4 ,something of all this was doubtless in ,drer too2 but in him it was refined and harmonised by the sense and serious concern1 not only for the things of to-day1 but for those of to-morrow and yesterday2 the sense of solidarity1 the passion for permanent effect1 eternal excellence4 ,these things1 in men like ,pirkheimer1 still more in ,erasmus1 and even in ,rabelais and ,montaigne1 are not absent2 but they are less stringent1 less religious1 than they are in a ,drer or a ,michael ,angelo4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,d,,rer ,,at ,,venice ,i ,there are several reasons which may possibly have led ,drer to visit ,venice in #aeje4 ,the ,fondaco dei ,tedeschi1 or ,exchange of the ,german ,merchants at ,venice1 had been burned down the winter before1 and they were in haste to complete a new one4 ,drer may have received assurance that the commission to paint the altar-piece for the new chapel would be his did he desire it4 ,at any rate he seems to have set to work on such a picture almost as soon as he arrived there4 ,it is strange to think that ,giorgione and ,titian probably began to paint the frescoes on the facade while he was still at work in the chapel1 or soon after he left4 ,the plague broke out in ,nuremberg before he came away2 but this is not likely to have been his principal motive for leaving home1 as many richer men1 such as his friend ,pirkheimer1 from whom he borrowed money for the journey1 stayed where they were4 ,nor do ,drer's letters reveal any alarm for his friend's1 his mother's1 his wife's1 or his brother's safety4 ,he took with him six small pictures1 and probably a great number of prints1 for ,venice was a first-rate market4 ,,ii ,the letters which follow are like a glimpse of a distant scene in a camera obscura1 and1 like life itself1 they are full of repetitions and over-insistence on what is insignificant or of temporary interest4 ,to-day they call for our patience and forbearance1 and it will depend upon our imaginative activity in what degree they repay them2 even as it depends upon our power of affectionate assimilation in what degree and kind every common day adds to our real possessions4 ,i have made my citations as ample as possible1 so as to give the reader a just idea of their character while making them centre as far as possible round points of special interest4 ,to the honourable1 wise ,master ,wilibald ,pirkheimer1 ,burgher of ,nrberg1 my kind ,master4 ,,venice1 ,january #f1 #aejf4 ,i wish you and yours many good1 happy ,new ,years4 ,my willing service1 first of all1 to you dear ,master ,pirkheimer6 ,know that ,i am in good health2 ,i pray ,god far better things than that for you4 ,as to those pearls and precious stones which you gave me commission to buy1 you must know that ,i can find nothing good or even worth its price4 ,everything is snapped up by the ,germans who hang about the ,riva4 ,they always want to get four times the value for anything1 for they are the falsest knaves alive4 ,no one need look for an honest service from any of them4 ,some good fellows have warned me to beware of them1 they cheat man and beast4 ,you can buy better things at a lower price at ,frankfurt than at ,venice4 ,illustration3 ,wilibald ,pirkheimer--,charcoal ,drawing1 ,dumesnil ,collection1 ,paris ,face p4 #hj ,about the books which ,i was to order for you1 the ,imhofs have already seen after them2 but if there is anything else you want1 let me know and ,i will attend to it for you with all zeal4 ,would to ,god ,i could do you a right good service6 gladly would ,i accomplish it1 seeing1 as ,i do1 how much you do for me4 ,and ,i pray you be patient with my debt1 for indeed ,i think much oftener of it than you do4 ,when ,god helps me home ,i will honourably repay you with many thanks2 for ,i have a panel to paint for the ,germans for which they are to pay me a hundred and ten ,rhenish florins--it will not cost me as much as five4 ,i shall have scraped it and laid on the ground and made it ready within eight days2 then ,i shall at once begin to paint and1 if ,god will1 it shall be in its place above the altar a month after ,easter4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,venice1 ,february #ag1 #aejf4 ,how ,i wish you were here at ,venice6 ,there are so many nice men among the ,italians who seek my company more and more every day--which is very pleasing to one--men of sense and knowledge1 good lute-players and pipers1 judges of painting1 men of much noble sentiment and 'honest virtue1 and they show me much honour and friendship4 ,on the other hand there are also amongst them some of the most false1 lying1 thievish rascals2 ,i should never have believed that such were living in the world4 ,if one did not know them1 one would think them the nicest men the earth could show4 ,for my own part ,i cannot help laughing at them whenever they talk to me4 ,they know that their knavery is no secret but they don't mind4 ,amongst the ,italians ,i have many good friends who warn me not to eat and drink with their painters4 ,many of them are my enemies and they copy my work in the churches and wherever they can find it2 and then they revile it and say that the style is not antique and so not good4 ,but ,giovanni ,bellini has highly praised me before many nobles4 ,he wanted to have something of mine1 and himself came to me and asked me to paint him something and he would pay well for it4 ,and all men tell me what an upright man he is1 so that ,i am really friendly with him4 ,he is very old1 but is still the best painter of them all4 ,and that which so well pleased me eleven years ago pleases me no longer1 if ,i had not seen it for myself ,i should not have believed any one who told me4 ,you must know too that there are many better painters here than ,master ,jacob 7,jacopo de' ,barbari7 is abroad 7wider darvsen ,meister ,j471 yet ,anton ,kolb would swear an oath that no better painter lives than ,jacob4 ,others sneer at him1 saying if he were good he would stay here1 and so forth4 ,i have only to-day begun to sketch in my picture1 for my hands were so scabby 7grindig7 that ,i could do no work with them1 but ,i have got them cured4 ,now be lenient with me and don't get in a passion so easily1 but be gentle like me4 ,i don't know why you will not learn from me4 ,my friend6 ,i should like to know if any one of your loves is dead--that one close by the water for instance1 or the one called ,illustration or ,illustration or a ,illustration so that you might supply her place by another4 ,,albrecht ,d,,rer4 ,,venice1 ,february #bh1 #aejf4 ,i wish you had occasion to come here1 ,i know you would not find time hang on your hands1 for there are so many nice men in this country1 right good artists4 ,i have such a throng of ,italians about me that at times ,i have to shut myself up4 ,the nobles all wish me well1 but few of the painters4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,venice1 ,april #b1 #aejf4 ,the painters here1 let me tell you1 are very unfriendly to me4 ,they have summoned me three times before the magistrates1 and ,i have had to pay four florins to their school4 ,you must also know that ,i might have gained a great deal of money if ,i had not undertaken to paint the ,german picture4 ,there is much work in it and ,i cannot get it quite finished before ,whitsuntide4 ,yet they only pay me eighty-five ducats for it4 ,now you know how much it costs to live1 and then ,i have bought some things and sent some money away1 so that ,i have not much before me now4 ,but don't misunderstand me1 ,i am firmly purposed not to go away hence till ,god enables me to repay you with thanks and to have a hundred florins over besides4 ,i should easily earn this if ,i had not got the ,german picture to paint1 for all men except the painters wish me well4 ,tell my mother to speak to ,wolgemut about my brother1 and to ask him whether he can make use of him and give him work till ,i come1 or whether he can put him with some one else4 ,i should gladly have brought him with me to ,venice1 and that would have been useful both to me and him1 and he would have learnt the language1 but my mother was afraid that the sky would fall on him4 ,pray keep an eye on him yourself1 the women are no use for that4 ,tell the lad1 as you so well can1 to be studious and honest till ,i come1 and not to be a trouble to his mother2 if ,i cannot arrange everything ,i will at all events do all that ,i can4 ,alone ,i certainly should not starve1 but to support many is too hard for me1 for no one throws his gold away4 ,now ,i commend myself to you4 ,tell my mother to be ready to sell at the ,crown-fair 7,heiligthumsfest74 ,i am arranging for my wife to have come home by then2 ,i have written to her too about everything4 ,i will not take any steps about buying the diamond ornament till ,i get your next letter4 ,i don't think ,i shall be able to come home before next autumn1 when what ,i earned for the picture1 which was to have been ready by ,whitsuntide1 will be quite used up in living expenses1 purchases1 and payments2 what1 however1 ,i gain afterwards ,i hope to save4 ,if you see fit don't speak of this further1 and ,i will keep putting off my leaving from day to day and writing as though ,i was just coming4 ,i am indeed very uncertain what to do next4 ,write to me again soon4 ,given on ,thursday before ,palm ,sunday in the year #aejf4 ,,albrecht ,d,,rer1 ,your ,servant4 ,,venice1 ,august #ah1 #aejf4 ,to the first1 greatest man in the world4 ,your servant and slave ,albrecht ,drer sends salutation to his ,magnificent master ,wilibald ,pirkheimer4 ,my truth6 ,i hear gladly and with great satisfaction of your health and great honours4 ,i wonder how it is possible for a man like you to stand against so many wisest princes1 swaggerers and soldiers2 it must be by some special grace of ,god4 ,when ,i read your letter about this terrible grimace1 it gave me a great fright and ,i thought it was a most important thing1#ae but ,i warrant that you frightened even ,schott's men1#af you with your fierce look and your holiday hopping step4 ,but it is very improper for such folk to smear themselves with civet4 ,you want to become a real silk-tail and you think that1 if only you manage to please the girls1 the thing is done4 ,if you were only as taking a fellow as ,i am1 it would not provoke me so4 ,you have so many loves that merely to pay each one a visit you would take a month or more before you got through the list4 ,for one thing ,i return you my thanks1 namely1 for explaining my position in the best way to my wife2 but ,i know that there is no lack of wisdom in you4 ,if only you had my meekness you would have all virtues4 ,thank you also for all the good you have done me1 if only you would not bother me about the rings6 ,if they don't please you1 break their heads off and pitch them out on to the dunghill as ,peter ,weisweber says4 ,what do you mean by setting me to such dirty work8 ,i have become a gentleman at ,venice4 ,i have also heard that you can make lovely rhymes2 you would be a find for our fiddlers here2 they fiddle so beautifully that they can't help weeping over it themselves4 ,would ,god our ,rechenmeister girl could hear them1 she would cry too4 ,at your bidding ,i will again lay aside my anger and bear myself even more bravely than usual4 ,now let me commend myself to you2 give my willing service to our ,prior for me2 tell him to pray ,god for me that ,i may be protected1 and especially from the ,french sickness2 ,i know of nothing that ,i now dread more than that1 for well nigh every one has got it4 ,many men are quite eaten up and die of it4 ,,venice1 ,september #h1 #aejf4 ,most learned1 approved1 wise1 knower of many languages1 sharp to detect all encountered lies and quick to recognise plain truth6 ,honourable much-regarded ,herr ,wilibald ,pirkheimer4 ,your humble servant ,albrecht ,drer wishes you all hail1 great and worthy honour in the devil's name1 so much for the twaddle of which you are so fond4 ,i wager that for this#ag you would think me too an orator of a hundred parts4 ,a chamber must have more than four corners which is to contain the gods of memory4 ,i am not going to cram my head full of them2 that ,i leave to you2 for ,i believe that however many chambers there might be in the head1 you would have something in each of them4 ,the ,margrave would not grant an audience long enough6--a hundred headings and to each heading1 say1 a hundred words1 that takes #i days #g hours #eb minutes1 not counting the sighs which ,i have not yet reckoned in4 ,in fact you could not get through the whole at one go2 it would stretch itself out like the speech of some old driveller4 ,i have taken all manner of trouble about the carpets but cannot find any broad ones2 they are all narrow and long4 ,however ,i still look about every day for them and so does ,anton ,kolb4 ,i have given ,bernhard ,hirschvogel your greeting and he sent you his service4 ,he is full of sorrow for the death of his ,son1 the nicest lad ,i ever saw4 ,i can get none of your foolish featherlets4 ,oh1 if only you were here6 how you would like these fine ,italian soldiers6 ,how often ,i think of you6 ,would to ,god that you and ,kunz ,kamerer could see them6 ,they have great scythe-lances with #bgh points1 if they only touch a man with them he dies1 for they are all poisoned4 ,hey6 ,i can do it well1 ,i'll be an ,italian soldier4 ,the ,venetians as well as the ,pope and the ,king of ,france are collecting many men2 what will come of it ,i don't know1 but people ridicule our ,king very much4 ,wish ,stephan ,paumgartner much happiness from me4 ,i don't wonder at his having taken a wife4 ,give my greeting to ,borsch1 ,herr ,lorenz1 and our fair friends1 as well as to your ,rechenmeister girl1 and thank that head-chamber of yours alone for remembering her greeting2 tell her she's a nasty one4 ,illustration ,i sent you olive-wood from ,venice to ,augsburg1 where ,i directed it to be left1 a full ten hundredweight4 ,she says she would not wait for it2 whence the stink4 ,my picture1 you must know1 says it would give a ducat for you to see it1 it is well painted and beautifully coloured4 ,i have earned much praise but little profit by it4 ,in the time it took to paint ,i could easily have earned #bbj ducats1 and now ,i have declined much work1 in order that ,i may come home4 ,i have stopped the mouths of all the painters who used to say that ,i was good at engraving but1 as to painting4 ,i did not know how to handle my colours4 ,now every one says that better colouring they have never seen4 ,my ,french mantle greets you and my ,italian coat also4 ,it strikes me that there is an odour of gallantry about you2 ,i can scent it out even at this distance2 and they tell me here that when you go a-courting you pretend not to be more than twenty-five years old--oh1 yes6 double that and ,i'll believe it4 ,my friend1 there are so many ,italians here who look exactly like you2 ,i don't know how it happens6 ,the ,doge and the ,patriarch have also seen my picture4 ,herewith let me commend myself to you as your servant4 ,i must really go to sleep as it is striking the seventh hour of the night1 and ,i have already written to the ,prior of the ,augustines1 to my father-in-law1 to ,mistress ,dietrich1 and to my wife1 and they are all downright whole sheets full4 ,so ,i have had to hurry over this letter1 read it according to the sense4 ,you would doubtless do better if you were writing to a lot of ,princes4 ,many good nights and days too4 ,given at ,venice on our ,lady's day in ,september4 ,you need not lend my wife and mother anything2 they have got money enough1 ,,albrecht ,d,,rer4 ,,venice1 ,september #bc1 #aejf4 ,your letter telling me of the praise that you get to overflowing from ,princes and nobles gave me great delight4 ,you must be altogether altered to have become so gentle2 ,i shall hardly know you when ,i meet you again4 ,you must know that my picture is finished as well as another ,quadro#ah the like of which ,i have never painted before4 ,and as you are so pleased with yourself1 let me tell you that there is no better ,madonna picture in the land than mine2 for all the painters praise it1 as the nobles do you4 ,they say that they have never seen a nobler1 more charming painting1 and so forth4 99 99 99 99 99 ,but in order to come home as soon as possible1 ,i have1 since my picture was finished1 refused work that would have yielded me more than #bjjj ducats4 ,this all men know who live about me here4 ,bernhard ,holzbeck has told me great things of you1 though ,i think he does so because you have become his brother-in-law4 ,but nothing makes me more angry than when any one says that you are good-looking2 if that were so ,i should become really ugly4 ,that could make me mad4 ,i have found a grey hair on myself1 it is the result of so much excitement4 ,and ,i fear that while ,i play such pranks with myself there are still bad days before me1 c4 ,my ,french mantle1 my doublet1 and my brown coat send you a hearty greeting1 ,i should be glad to see what great thing your head-piece can produce that you hold yourself so high4 ,,venice1 about ,october #ac1 #aejf4 ,knowing that you are aware of my devotion to your service there is no need for me to write to you about it2 but so much the more necessary is it for me to tell you of the great pleasure it gives me to hear of the high honour and fame which your manly wisdom and learned skill have brought you4 ,this is the more to be wondered at1 for seldom or never in a young body can the like be found4 ,it comes to you1 however1 as to me1 by a special grace of ,god4 ,how pleased we both are when we fancy ourselves worth somewhat--,i with my painting1 and you with your wisdom4 ,when any one praises us1 we hold up our heads and believe him4 ,yet perhaps he is only some false flatterer who is scorning us all the time4 ,so don't credit any one who praises you1 for you've no notion how utterly and entirely unmannerly you are4 ,i can quite see you standing before the ,margrave and speaking so pleasantly--behaving exactly as if you were flirting with ,mistress ,rosentaler1 cringing as you do4 ,it did not escape me that1 when you wrote your last letter1 you were quite full of amorous thoughts4 ,you ought to be ashamed of yourself1 an old fellow like you pretending to be so good-looking4 ,flirting pleases you in the same way that a shaggy old dog likes a game with a kitten4 ,if you were only as fine and gentle a man as ,i1 ,i could understand it4 ,if ,i become burgomaster ,i will serve you with the ,luginsland4#ai as you do to pious ,zamesser and me4 ,i will have you for once shut up there with the ladies ,rechenmeister1 ,rosentaler1 ,grtner1 ,schutz1 and ,pr1 and many others whom for shortness ,i will not name2 they must deal with you4 ,people enquire more after me than you1 for you yourself write that both girls and honourable wives ask after me--that is a sign of my virtue4 ,when1 however1 ,god helps me home ,i don't know how ,i shall any longer stand you with your great wisdom2 but for your virtue and good temper ,i am glad1 and your dogs will be the better for it1 for you will no longer strike them lame4 ,now however that you are thought so much of at home1 you won't dare to talk to a poor painter in the street any more2 to be seen with the painter varlet would be a great disgrace for you4 ,o1 dear ,herr ,pirkheimer1 just now while ,i was writing to you1 the alarm of fire was raised and six houses over by ,pietro ,venier are burnt1 and a woollen cloth of mine1 for which only yesterday ,i paid eight ducats1 is burnt1 so ,i too am in trouble4 ,there is much excitement here about the fire4 ,as to your summons to me to come home soon1 ,i shall come as soon as ever ,i can1 but ,i must first gain money for my expenses4 ,i have paid away about #ajj ducats for colours and other things4 ,i have ordered you two carpets for which ,i shall pay to-morrow1 but ,i could not get them cheap4 ,i will pack them in with my linen4 ,and as to your threat that1 unless ,i come home soon1 you will make love to my wife1 don't attempt it--a ponderous fellow like you would be the death of her4 ,i must tell you that ,i set to work to learn dancing and went twice to the school1 for which ,i had to pay the master a ducat4 ,no one could get me to go there again4 ,to learn dancing ,i should have had to pay away all that ,i have earned1 and at the end ,i should have known nothing about it4 ,illustration3 ,,hans ,,burgkmair--,black chalk drawing on yellowish prepared ground4 ,the lights and background in watercolor may possibly have been added later ,at ,oxford ,in reply to your question when ,i shall come home1 ,i tell you1 so that my lords may also make their arrangements1 that ,i shall have finished here in ten days2 after that ,i should like to ride to ,bologna to learn the secrets of the art of perspective1 which a man is willing to teach me4 ,i should stay there eight or ten days and then return to ,venice4 ,after that ,i shall come with the next messenger4 ,how ,i shall freeze after this sun6 ,here ,i am a gentleman1 at home only a parasite4 ,,iii ,sir ,martin ,conway writes3 ,he 7,drer7 enjoyed ,venice2 he liked the ,italians2 he was oppressed with orders for work2 the climate suited him1 and the warm sun was a pleasant contrast to the snows and frost of a ,franconian winter4 ,but ,drer's ,german heart was true2 its truth was the secret of his success4444 ,the syren voice of ,italy charmed to their destruction most ,germans who listened to it4 ,brought face to face with the ,italian ,ideal of ,grace1 they one after another abandoned for it the ,ideal of ,strength peculiarly their own4 ,we do not resort to these arguments to approve ,holbein or ,van ,dyck for their long residence in ,england4 ,i am not sure how much false sentiment inspired ,thausing when he first praised ,drer in this strain2 but ,i must confess ,i suspect it was no little4 ,i incline to think that the best country for an artist is not always the one he was born in1 but often that one where his art finds the best conditions to foster it4 ,we do not honour ,drer by supposing that he would have been among that majority of ,dutch and ,german artists who1 weaker than ,roger van der ,weyden and ,burgkmair1 returned from ,italy injured and enfeebled2 even if he had passed the greater portion of his life with her syren voice in his ears4 ,drer could not bring himself to undergo for art's sake what ,michael ,angelo endured2 years of exile from a beloved native city1 and1 still worse1 years of exile from the most congenial spiritual atmosphere4 ,nevertheless1 we must remember that the difference of language would have made life in ,venice for ,drer a much more complete exile than life in ,verona was for ,dante1 or life in ,rome for ,michael ,angelo4 ,so he did not share the patronage and generous recognition which gave ,titian such a splendid opportunity4 ,he ceased for a time at least to be a gentleman to become a hanger-on1 a parasite once more4 ,at ,antwerp he once more was met by the same generosity and recognition only to refuse again to accept it as a gift for life and return to his beloved ,nuremberg1 where it is true his position continually improved1 though it never equalled what had been offered at ,venice and ,antwerp4 ,,iv ,the tone of some of the pleasantries in these letters may rather astonish good people who1 having accepted the fact that ,drer was a religious man1 have at once given him the tone and address of a meeting of churchwardens1 if they have not conjured up a vision of him in a frock coat4 ,things are what they are1 said ,bishop ,butler1 and so are women2 boys will be boys4 ,the distinctive functions of the two sexes were in those days kept more in view if not more in mind than is the case to-day4 ,the fashions in dress and in deportment were particularly frank upon this point1 especially for the young4 ,one may allow as much as is desired for the corruption of manners produced by the civil and religious mercenaries1 soldiers of fortune1 and friars4 ,there will always remain a certain truth and propriety1 a certain grace and charm in those costumes and that deportment1 as also in the freedom of jest which characterises even the most modest of ,shakespeare's heroines2 and under the influence of their spell we shall feel that all has not been gain in the change that has gradually been operated4 ,no doubt virtue is a victory over nature1 and chastity a refinement2 but among conquerors some are easy and good-natured1 others tactless1 awkward1 insulting2 and among the chaste some are fearless and enjoy the freedom which courage and clear conscience give1 others timid and suffer the oppression of their fears4 ,even among sinners some make the best of weaknesses and redeem them a great deal more than half1 while others magnify smaller faults by lack of self-possession till they are an insupportable nuisance4 ,we may well admit that from the successes of those days1 those who succeed to our delight to-day may glean additional attractions4 ,v ,we know that ,drer stopped on at ,venice into the year #aejg1 by a note which he made in a copy of ,euclid1 now in the library at ,wolfenbttel4 ,this book have ,i bought at ,venice for a ducat in the year #aejg4 ,albrecht ,drer2 and by another stray note we learn the state of his worldly affairs on his return4 ,the following is my property1 which ,i have with difficulty acquired by the labour of my hand1 for ,i have had no opportunity of great gain4 ,i have moreover suffered much loss by lending what was not repaid me1 and by apprentices who never paid their fees1 and one died at ,rome whereby ,i lost my wares4 ,in the thirteenth year of my wedlock 7,le41 #aejg-h7 ,i have paid great debts with what ,i earned at ,venice4 ,i possess fairly good household furniture1 good clothes1 chests1 some good pewter vessels1 good materials for my work1 bedding and cupboards1 and good colours worth #ajj florins ,rhenish4 ,the wares that ,drer lost in ,rome were doubtless chiefly woodcuts and engravings which his prentice had taken to sell during his wanderjahre1 as ,drer himself during his own had very likely sold prints for ,wolgemut4 ,one of the reasons which had taken him to ,venice may have been to summon ,marc ,antonio before the ,signoria1 for having copied not only his engravings1 but the monogram with which he signed them2 in any case he obtained a decree defending him against such artistic forgery4 ,drer's most steady resource seems to have been the sale of prints2 it is these that his wife had sold in his absence1 and in the diary of his journey to the ,netherlands there is constant mention of such sales4 ,nuremberg was very much behind ,antwerp or ,venice in the price paid for works of art2 and the possibilities of such a market as ,rome had very likely tempted ,drer to trust his prentice with an unusual quantity of prints4 ,his worldly affairs were neither brilliant nor secure2 yet we shall find him tempted on receiving an important commission to spend so much in time and material as to make it impossible for him to realise a profit4 ,we are accustomed to think that these trials were spared to artists in the past by the munificence of patrons3 but apart from the fact that patrons often paid only with promises or by granting credit1 at ,nuremberg there were few magnificent patrons1 and its burghers were in no way so generous or so extravagant as those of ,venice or ,antwerp4 ,in fact1 ,drer's position was very similar to that of the modern artist1 who finds little and insufficient patronage1 and can make more if he is lucky by the reproduction of his creations for the great public4 ,but ,drer still had one advantage over his fellow-sufferers of to-day--that of being his own publisher4 ,doubtless portraits were as popular then as nowadays2 but if the public taste had not been prostituted by a seductive commercialism to the degree that at present obtains1 on the other hand1 at ,nuremberg at least1 the fashion seems to have been very little developed2 and most of ,drer's important portraits seem to have been the result of his sojourns away from home4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #ae3 ,thus far the original is in bad ,italian4 ,footnote #af3 ,the retainers of ,konz ,schott1 a neighbouring baron1 at one time a conspicuous enemy of ,nrnberg4 ,footnote #ag3 ,these words are in ,italian in the original4 ,footnote #ah3 ,prof4 ,thausing suggests that this other ,quadro is the ,christ among the ,doctors in the ,barberini ,gallery at ,rome--a picture containing seven life-size half-figures or heads1 and dated #aejf4 ,the inscription states it to have been opus quinque dierum4 ,at ,brunswick there is an old copy of it4 ,the original studies for the hands are likewise in existence4 ,in ,lorenzo ,lotto's ,madonna of #aejh in the ,borghese ,gallery at ,rome1 the head of ,st4 ,onuphrius is taken from the model who sat for the front ,pharisee on the left in ,drer's picture4 ,footnote #ai3 ,a ,nrnberg prison4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,d,,rer ,,and ,,his ,,patrons ,,and ,,friends ,i ,drer had hitherto occasionally enjoyed the patronage of the wise ,elector1 ,frederick of ,saxony1 for whom he painted the brilliant ,adoration of the ,magi in the ,uffizi4 ,he was soon to obtain that of ,maximilian1 but this genial and eccentric emperor proved a fussy patron1 as quick to change his mind and to interfere with impossible demands and criticisms1 as he was slow to pay and deficient in means for being truly generous4 ,there are a certain number of letters which give a glimpse of ,drer's relations with his clients2 they show him appealing always to the judgment of artists against the ignorant buyer1 and giving more than he bargained to give1 though thereby he eats up his legitimate profits2 lastly1 they show him vowing never again to enter upon work so unprofitable1 but to give all his time to the creation of engravings and woodcuts4 ,the first is written to ,michael ,behaim1 who died in #aeaa1 and had commissioned him to make a design for a woodcut of his coat of arms4 ,,dear ,,master ,,michael ,,behaim1--,i send you back the coat of arms again4 ,pray let it stay as it is4 ,no one could improve it for you1 for ,i made it artistically and with care4 ,those who see it and understand such matters will tell you so4 ,if the leafwork on the helm were tossed up backward1 it would hide the fillet4 ,your humble servant1 ,,albrecht ,d,,rer4 ,illustration3 ,photograph ,j4 ,lowy--,,the ,,adoration ,,of ,,the ,,trinity1 #aeaa--;,from the painting at ,vienna ,the other letters concern the lost ,coronation of the ,virgin1 the centre panel of an altar-piece of which the wings are still at ,frankfurt1 of which town ,jacob ,heller1 who commissioned it1 was a burgher4 ,they were to be studio work1 and are supposed to be chiefly due to ,drer's brother ,hans4 ,there is1 however1 one picture extant which gives an idea of the execution of the missing centre panel1 the ,holy ,trinity and ,all ,saints at ,vienna2 which1 in spite of his vow never to do such work again1 was commenced shortly after the ,coronation1 and for a ,nuremberg patron4 ,how much he was paid for it is not known2 but it cannot have been a really adequate sum1 as towards the end of his life he writes to the ,nuremberg ,council1 ,i have not received from people in this town work worth five hundred florins1 truly a trifling and ridiculous sum1 and not the fifth part of that has been profit4 ,the preceding picture1 referred to in the first letters1 is the ,martyrdom of the ,ten ,thousand by ,sapor ,,ii4 ,all three pictures were signed1 like the ,feast of the ,rose ,garlands by little finely-dressed portraits of the painter4 ,n,,rnberg1 ,august #bh1 #aejg4 ,i did not want to receive any money in advance on it till ,i began to paint it1 which1 if ,god will1 shall be the next thing after the ,prince's work2#bj for ,i prefer not to begin too many things at once and then ,i do not become wearied4 ,the ,prince too will not be kept waiting1 as he would be if ,i were to paint his and your pictures at the same time1 as ,i had intended4 ,at all events have confidence in me1 for1 so far as ,god permits1 ,i will yet according to my power make something that not many men can equal4 ,now many good nights to you4 ,given at ,nrnberg on ,augustine's day1 #aejg4 ,,albrecht ,d,,rer4 99 99 99 99 99 ,n,,rnberg1 ,march #ai1 #aejh4 ,dear ,herr ,jacob ,heller4 ,in a fortnight ,i shall be ready with ,duke ,friedrich's work2 after that ,i shall begin yours1 and1 as my custom is1 ,i will not paint any other picture till it is finished4 ,i will be sure carefully to paint the middle panel with my own hand2 apart from that1 the outer sides of the wings are already sketched in--they will be in stone colour2 ,i have also had the ground laid4 ,so much for news4 ,i wish you could see my gracious ,lord's picture2 ,i think it would please you4 ,i have worked at it straight on for a year and gained very little by it2 for ,i only get #bhj ,rhenish gulden for it1 and ,i have spent all that in the time4 99 99 99 99 99 ,n,,rnberg1 ,august #bd1 #aejh4 ,now ,i commend myself to you4 ,i want you also to know that in all my days ,i have never begun any work that pleased me better than this picture of yours which ,i am painting4 ,till ,i finish it ,i will not do any other work2 ,i am only sorry that the winter will so soon come upon me4 ,the days grow so short that one cannot do much4 ,i have still one thing to ask you2 it is about the ,,madonna#ba that you saw at my house2 if you know of any one near you who wants a picture pray offer it to him4 ,if a proper frame was put to it1 it would be a beautiful picture1 and you know that it is nicely done4 ,i will let you have it cheap4 ,i would not take less than fifty florins to paint one like it4 ,as it stands finished in the house it might be damaged for me1 so ,i would give you full power to sell it for me cheap for thirty florins--indeed1 rather than that it should not be sold ,i would even let it go for twenty-five florins4 ,i have certainly lost much food over it4 99 99 99 99 99 ,nrnberg1 ,november #d1 #aejh4 ,i am justly surprised at what you say in it about my last letter3 seeing that you can accuse me of not holding to my promises to you4 ,from such a slander each and everyone exempts me1 for ,i bear myself1 ,i trust1 so as to take my stand amongst other straightforward men4 ,besides ,i know well what ,i have written and promised to you1 and you know that in my cousin's house ,i refused to promise you to make a good thing1 because ,i cannot4 ,but to this ,i did pledge myself1 that ,i would make something for you that not many men can4 ,now ,i have given such exceeding pains to your picture1 that ,i was led to send you the aforesaid letter4 ,i know that when the picture is finished all artists will be well pleased with it4 ,it will not be valued at less than #cjj florins4 ,i would not paint another like it for three times the price agreed1 for ,i neglect myself for it1 suffer loss1 and earn anything but thanks from you4 ,you further reproach me with having promised you that ,i would paint your picture with the greatest possible care that ever ,i could4 ,that ,i certainly never said1 or if ,i did ,i was out of my senses1 for in my whole lifetime ,i should scarcely finish it4 ,with such extraordinary care ,i can hardly finish a face in half a year2 now your picture contains fully #ajj faces1 not reckoning the drapery and landscape and other things in it4 ,besides1 who ever heard of making such a work for an altar-piece8 no one could see it4 ,but ,i think it was thus that ,i wrote to you--that ,i would paint the picture with great or more than ordinary pains because of the time which you waited for me4 ,you need not look about for a purchaser for my ,madonna1 for the ,bishop of ,breslau has given me seventy-two florins for it1 so ,i have sold it well4 ,i commend myself to you4 ,given at ,nrnberg in the year #aejh1 on the ,sunday after ,all ,saints' ,day4 ,,albrecht ,d,,rer4 99 99 99 99 99 ,n,,rnberg1 ,march #ba1 #aeji4 ,i only care for praise from those who are competent to judge2 and if ,martin ,hess praises it to you1 that may give you the more confidence4 ,you might also inquire from some of your friends who have seen it2 they will tell you how it is done4 ,and if you do not like the picture when you see it1 ,i will keep it myself1 for ,i have been begged to sell it and make you another4 ,but be that far from me6 ,i will right honourably hold with you to that which ,i have promised1 taking you1 as ,i do1 for an upright man4 99 99 99 99 99 ,n,,rnberg1 ,july #aj1 #aeji4 ,as you go on to say that if you had not bargained with me for the picture you would never do so now1 and that ,i may keep it--,i return you this answer3 to retain your friendship1 if ,i had to suffer loss by the picture1 ,i would have done so1 but now since you regret the whole business and provoke me to keep the picture ,i will do so1 and that gladly1 for ,i know how to get #ajj florins more for it than you would have given me4 ,in future ,i would not take #djj florins to paint another such as this4 ,,albrecht ,d,,rer4 ,n,,rnberg1 ,july #bd1 #aeji4 ,,dear ,,herr ,,heller1 ,i have read the letter which you addressed to me4 ,you write that you did not mean to decline taking the picture from me4 ,to that ,i can only say that ,i don't understand what you do mean4 ,when you write that if you had not ordered the picture you would not make the bargain again1 and that ,i may keep it as long as ,i like and so on--,i can only think that you have repented of the whole business1 so ,i gave you my answer in my last letter4 ,but1 at ,hans ,imhof's persuasion1 and having regard to the fact that you ordered the picture of me1 and also because ,i should prefer it to find a place at ,frankfurt rather than anywhere else1 ,i have consented to send it to you for #ajj florins less than it might well have brought me4 ,i am reckoning that ,i shall thus render you a pleasing service2 otherwise ,i know well how ,i could draw far greater pecuniary advantage from it1 but your friendship is dearer to me than any such trifling sum of money4 ,i trust however that you would not wish me to suffer loss over it when you are better off than ,i4 ,make therefore your own arrangements and commands4 ,given at ,nrnberg on ,wine-,tuesday before ,james'4 ,,albrecht ,d,,rer4 ,n,,rnberg1 ,august #bf1 #aeji4 ,first my willing service to you1 dear ,herr ,jacob ,heller4 ,in accordance with your last letter ,i am sending the picture well packed and seen to in all needful points4 ,i have handed it over to ,hans ,imhof and he has paid me another #ajj florins4 ,yet believe me1 on my honour1 ,i am still out of pocket over it besides losing the time which ,i have bestowed upon it4 ,here in ,nrnberg they were ready to give #cjj florins for it1 which extra #ajj florins would have done very nicely for me had ,i not preferred to please and serve you by sending you the picture4 ,for ,i value the keeping of your friendship at more than #ajj florins4 ,i would also rather have this painting at ,frankfurt than anywhere else in all ,germany4 ,if you think that ,i have behaved unfairly in not leaving the payment to your own free-will1 you must bear in mind that this would not have happened if you had not written by ,hans ,imhof that ,i might keep the picture as long as ,i liked4 ,i should otherwise gladly have left it to you even if thereby ,i had suffered a greater loss still4 ,my impression of you is that1 supposing ,i had promised to make you something for about ten florins and it cost me twenty1 you yourself would not wish me to lose by it4 ,so pray be content with the fact that ,i took #ajj florins less from you than ,i might have got for the picture--for ,i tell you that they wanted to take it from me1 so to speak1 by force4 ,i have painted it with great care1 as you will see1 using none but the best colours ,i could get4 ,it is painted with good ultramarine under1 and over1 and over that again1 some five or six times2 and then after it was finished ,i painted it again twice over so that it may last a long time4 ,if it is kept clean ,i know it will remain bright and fresh #ejj years1 for it is not done as men are wont to paint4 ,so have it kept clean and don't let it be touched or sprinkled with holy water4 ,i feel sure it will not be criticised1 or only for the purpose of annoying me2 and ,i answer for it it will please you well4 ,no one shall ever compel me to paint a picture again with so much labour4 ,herr ,georg ,tausy himself besought me to paint him a ,madonna in a landscape with the same care and of the same size as this picture1 and he would give me #djj florins for it4 ,that ,i flatly refused to do1 for it would have made a beggar of me4 ,of ordinary pictures ,i will in a year paint a pile which no one would believe it possible for one man to do in the time4 ,but very careful nicety does not pay4 ,so henceforth ,i shall stick to my engraving1 and had ,i done so before ,i should to-day have been a richer man by #ajjj florins4 ,i may tell you also that1 at my own expense1 ,i have had for the middle panel a new frame made which has cost me more than six florins4 ,the old one ,i have broken off1 for the joiner had made it roughly2 but ,i have not had the other fastened on1 for you wished it not to be4 ,it would be a very good thing to have the rims screwed on so that the picture may not be shaken4 ,if anyone wants to see it1 let it hang forward two or three finger breadths1 for then the light is good to see it by4 ,and when ,i come over to you1 say in one1 two1 or three years' time1 if the picture is properly dry1 it must be taken down and ,i will varnish it over anew with some excellent varnish1 which no one else can make2 it will then last #ajj years longer than it would before4 ,but don't let anybody else varnish it1 for all other varnishes are yellow1 and the picture would be ruined for you4 ,and if a thing1 on which ,i have spent more than a year's work1 were ruined it would be grief to me4 ,when you have it set up be present yourself to see that it gets no harm4 ,deal carefully with it1 for you will hear from your own and from foreign painters how it is done4 ,give my greeting to your painter ,martin ,hess4 ,my wife asks you for a ,trinkgeld1 but that is as you please1 ,i screw you no higher1 c4 ,and now ,i hold myself commended to you4 ,read by the sense1 for ,i write in haste4 ,given at ,nrnberg on ,sunday after ,bartholomew's1 #aeji4 ,,albrecht ,d,,rer4 ,n,,rnberg1 ,october #ab1 #aeji4 ,,dear ,,herr ,,jacob ,,heller1 ,i am glad to hear that my picture pleases you1 so that my labour has not been bestowed in vain4 ,i am also happy that you are content about the payment--and that rightly1 for ,i could have got #ajj florins more for it than you have given me4 ,but ,i preferred to let you have it1 hoping1 as ,i do1 thereby to retain you as my friend down in your parts4 ,my wife thanks you very much for the present you have made her2 she will wear it in your honour4 ,my young brother also thanks you for the two florins ,trinkgeld you sent him4 ,and now ,i too thank you myself for all the honour c4 ,in reply to your question how the picture should be adorned ,i send you a slight design of what ,i should do if it were mine1 but you must do what you like4 ,now1 many happy times to you4 ,given on ,friday before ,gall's1 #aeji4 ,,albrecht ,d,,rer4 ,drer must have commenced the ,all ,saints picture almost immediately after having finished ,heller's ,coronation of the ,virgin4 ,perhaps he had practically accepted the commission from ,matthsus ,landauer before he wrote to ,heller that he would never again undertake a picture with so much work and labour in it1 for he afterwards was as good as his word4 ,this new work was for the chapel of an almshouse founded by ,landauer and ,erasmus ,schiltkrot for twelve old men citizens of ,nuremberg4 ,the original frame designed by ,drer is now in the ,germanic ,museum1 though a copy has replaced the picture4 ,after the completion of the ,trinity and ,all ,saints1 ,drer apparently carried out his threat and gave up painting for a dozen years1 devoting his energies more especially to a magnificent series of engravings on copper4 ,he also completed his series of wood engravings and published them with text1 and produced a number of single cuts1 many of them among his very best1 like the ,assumption of the ,magdalen1 and the ,st4 ,christopher1 here reproduced4 ,illustration3 ,,st4 ,,christopher ,woodcut1 ,b4 #ajc ,illustration3 ,,the ,,assumption ,,of ,,the ,,magdalen ,woodcut1 ,b4 #aba ,,ii ,in #aead his mother died4 ,he has recounted her death twice over1 as he did that of his father already cited2 for the single surviving leaf of the other book happens to contain this also4 ,in the briefer chronicle he says3 ,two years after my ,father's death 7i4e41 #aejd7 ,i took my ,mother into my house1 for she had nothing more to live upon4 ,so she dwelt with me till the year #aeac1 as they reckon it2 when1 early one ,tuesday morning1 she was taken suddenly and deadly ill1 and thus she lay a whole year long4 ,and a whole year after the day she was first taken ill1 she received the holy sacraments and christianly passed away two hours before nightfall--it was on a ,tuesday1 the #agth day of ,may in the year #aead4 ,i said the prayers for her myself4 ,god ,almighty be gracious to her4 ,the account in the other book is more circumstantial3 ,now you must know that1 in the year #aeac1 on a ,tuesday before ,rogation week1 my poor afflicted ,mother1 whom two years after my ,father's death1 as she was quite poor1 ,i took into my house1 and after she had lived nine years with me1 was one morning suddenly taken so deadly ill that we broke into her chamber2 otherwise1 as she could not open1 we had not been able to come to her4 ,so we carried her into a room downstairs and she received both sacraments1 for every one thought she would die1 because ever since my ,father's death she had never been in good health4 ,her most frequent habit was to go much to the church4 ,she always upbraided me well if ,i did not do right1 and she was ever in great anxiety about my sins and those of my brother4 ,and if ,i went out or in her saying was always1 ,go in the name of ,christ4 ,she constantly gave us holy admonitions with deep earnestness and she always had great thought for our souls' health4 ,i cannot enough praise her good works and the compassion she showed to all1 as well as her high character4 ,this my pious ,mother bare and brought up eighteen children2 she often had the plague and many other severe and strange illnesses1 and she suffered great poverty1 scorn1 contempt1 mocking words1 terrors1 and great adversities4 ,yet she bore no malice4 ,in #aead 7as they reckon it71 on a ,tuesday--it was the #agth day of ,may--two hours before nightfall and more than a year after the above-mentioned day in which she was taken ill1 my ,mother1 ,barbara ,drer1 christianly passed away1 with all the sacraments1 absolved by papal power from pain and sin4 ,but she first--gave me her blessing and wished me the peace of ,god1 exhorting me very beautifully to keep myself from sin4 ,she asked also to drink ,s4 ,john's blessing1 which she then did4 ,she feared ,death much1 but she said that to come before ,god she feared not4 ,also she died hard1 and ,i marked that she saw something dreadful1 for she asked for the holy-water1 although1 for a long time1 she had not spoken4 ,immediately afterwards her eyes closed over4 ,i saw also how ,death smote her two great strokes to the heart1 and how she closed mouth and eyes and departed with pain4 ,i repeated to her the prayers4 ,i felt so grieved for her that ,i cannot express it4 ,god be merciful to her4 ,to speak of ,god was ever her greatest delight1 and gladly she beheld the honour of ,god4 ,she was in her sixty-third year when she died and ,i have buried her honourably according to my means4 ,illustration3 #aead1 on ,oculi ,sunday 7,march #ai74 ,this is ,albrecht ,drer's mother2 she was #fc years of age4 ,after her death he added in ink1 ,and departed this life in the year #aead on ,tuesday ,holy ,cross ,day 7,may #af7 at two o'clock in the night ,charcoal-drawing4 ,royal ,print ,room1 ,berlin ,god1 the ,lord1 grant me that ,i too may attain a happy end1 and that ,god with his heavenly host1 my ,father1 ,mother1 relations1 and friends may come to my death4 ,and may ,god ,almighty give unto us eternal life4 ,amen4 ,and in her death she looked much sweeter than when she was still alive4 ,,iii ,such was the home life of this great artist2 and from homes presenting variations on this type proceeded probably all the giants of the ,renaissance1 whose work we think so surpasses in effort1 in scope1 and in efficiency1 all that has been achieved since4 ,this ,christianity was unreformed2 it existed side by side with dissolute monasteries and worldly cynical prelates1 surrounded by sordid hucksters and brutal soldiery4 ,turn to ,erasmus' portrait of ,dean ,colet1 and we see that it existed in ,london1 among the burghers1 even in the household of a ,lord ,mayor4 ,we are almost forced on the reflection that nothing that has succeeded to it has produced men equal to those who sprang immediately out of it4 ,however much and however justly the assurance of ,christian assertion in the realm of theory may be condemned1 the success of the ,christian life1 wherever it has approached a conscientious realisation1 stands out among the multitudinous forms of its corruption2 and those who catch sight of it are almost bound to exclaim in the spirit of ,shakespeare's3 ,how far that little candle throws his beams6 ,so shines a good deed in a naughty world4 ,i have heard a ,royal ,academician remark how even the poorest copies and reproductions of the masterpieces of ,greek sculpture retain something of the charm and dignity of the original3 whereas the quality of modern work is quickly lost in a reduction or even in a cast4 ,i believe this may be best explained by the fact that the chief research of the ,greek artist was to establish a beautiful proportion between the parts and the whole2 and that fidelity to nature1 dexterity of execution1 the symbolism of the given subject1 and even the finish of the surfaces1 were always when necessary sacrificed to this4 ,whereas in modern work1 even when the proportions of the whole are considered1 which is rarely the case1 they are almost without exception treated as secondary to one or more of these other qualities4 ,is it not possible that ,jesus in his life laid down a proportion1 similar to that of ,greek masterpieces for the body1 between the efforts and intentions which create the soul and pour forth its influence8--a proportion which1 when it has been once thoroughly apprehended1 may be subtly varied to suit new circumstances1 and produce a similar harmony in spheres of activity with which ,jesus himself had not even a distant connection8 ,we often find that the rudest copies from copies of his actual life are like the biscuit china ,venus of ,milo sold by the ,italian pedlar1 which still dimly reflects the main beauties of the marble in the ,louvre4 ,,iv ,in #aeab ,kaiser ,maximilian came to ,nuremberg1 and soon afterward ,drer began working for him4 ,the employment he found for the greatest artist north of the ,alps was sufficiently ludicrous2 and perhaps ,drer showed that he felt this1 by treating the major portion as studio work2 though1 no doubt1 the impatience of his imperial patron in a measure necessitated the employment of many aids4 ,it is difficult to do justice to the fine qualities of ,maximilian4 ,perhaps he was not really so eccentric as he seems4 ,the oddity of his doings and sayings may be perhaps more properly attributed to his having been a thorough ,german4 ,the genial men of that nation1 even to-day and since it has come more into line in point of culture with ,france and ,england1 are apt to have a something ludicrous or fantastic clinging to them2 even ,goethe did not wholly escape4 ,maximilian was strong in body and in mind1 and brimming over with life and interest4 ,we are told that when a young man he climbed the tower of ,ulm ,cathedral by the help of the iron rings that served to hold the torches by which it was illuminated on high days and holidays4 ,again we read3 ,a secretary had embezzled #cjjj gulden4 ,maximilian sent for him and asked what should be done to a confidential servant who had robbed his master4 ,the secretary recommended the gallows4 ',nay1 nay1' the ,emperor said1 and tapped him on the shoulder1 ',i cannot spare you yet'2 an anecdote which reveals more good sense and a larger humanity than either monarchs or others are apt to have at hand on such vexing occasions4 ,thausing says admirably1 ,a happy imagination and a great idea of his exalted position made up to him for any want of success in his many wars and political negotiations1 and elsewhere calls him the last of the nomadic emperors1 who spent their lives travelling from palace to palace and from city to city1 beseeching1 cajoling1 or threatening their subjects into obedience4 ,he himself said1 ,i am a king of kings4 ,if ,i give an order to the princes of the empire1 they obey if they please1 if they do not please they disobey4 ,he was even then called the last of the knights1 because he had an amateurish passion for a chivalry that was already gone1 and was constantly attempting to revive its costumes and ordinances4 ,then1 like certain of the ,pharaohs of ,egypt1 he was pleased to read of1 and see illustrated by brush and graver1 victories he had never won1 and events in which he had not shone4 ,he himself dictated or planned out those wonderful lives or allegories of a life which might have been his4 ,it was on such a work of futile self-glorification that he now wished to employ ,drer4 ,the novelty of the art of printing1 and the convenience to a nomadic emperor of a monument that could be rolled up1 suggested the form of this last absurdity--a monster woodcut in #ib blocks which1 when joined together1 produced a picture #i feet by #aj1 representing what had at first been intended as an imitation of a ,roman triumphal arch2 but so much information about so many more or less dubious ancestors1 c41 had to be conveyed by quaint and conceited inventions1 that in the end it was rather comparable to the confusion of a ,juggernaut car1 which never-the-less imposes by a barbarous wealth and magnificence of fantastic detail4 ,and to this was to be joined another monster1 representing on several yards of paper a triumphal procession of the emperor1 escorted by his family1 and the virtues of himself and ancestors1 c4 ,such is fortune's malice that ,drer1 who alone or almost alone had conceived of the simplicity of true dignity and the beauty of choice proportions and propriety1 should have been called upon by his only royal patron to superintend a production wherein the rank and flaccid taste of the time ran riot4 ,the absurdity1 barbarism1 and grotesque quaintness of this monument to vanity cannot be laid exclusively at ,maximilian's door2 for the architecture1 particularly of the fountains1 in ,altdorfer's or ,manuel's designs1 and in those of many others1 reveals a like wantonness in delighted elaboration of the impossible and unstructural4 ,the scholars and pedantic posturers who surrounded the emperor no doubt improved and abetted4 ,probably it was this ,juggernaut element1 inherited from the ,gothic gargoyle1 which ,goethe censured when he said that ,drer was retarded by a gloomy fantasy devoid of form or foundation4 ,perhaps this was written at a period when the great critic was touched with that resentment against the ,middle ,ages begotten by the feeling that his own art was still encumbered by its irrational and confused fantasy4 ,we who certainly are able to take a more ample view of ,drer's situation in the art of his times1 see that he is rather characterised by an effort which lay in exactly the same direction as that of ,goethe's own2 and while sympathising with the irritation expressed1 can also admire the great engraver for having freed himself in so large a degree from the influence of fantasy devoid of form and foundation1 even as the justest ,shakespearean criticism admires the degree in which the author of ,othello freed himself from ,elizabethan conceits4 ,it is difficult to appreciate the difference for a great artist in having the general taste with rather than against the purer tendencies of his art4 ,probably the ,greeks and certain ,italians owe their freedom from eccentricity1 in a very large measure1 to this cause4 ,but ,i intend to treat these questions more at length in dealing with ,drer's character as an artist and creator4 ,it was necessary to touch on the subject here1 because ,maximilian embodies the peculiar and fantastic aftergrowth1 which sprouted up in some northern minds from the old stumps remaining from the great mediaeval forest of thoughts and sentiments which had gradually fallen into decay4 ,all around1 even in the same minds1 waved the saplings of the ,new ,birth when these old stumps put forth their so fantastic second youth1 seeming for a time to share in the new vigour1 though they were never to attain expansion and maturity4 ,v ,thausing shrewdly remarks1 ,this love of fame and nave delight in the glorification of his own person are further proofs that the ,emperor ,max was the true child of his age4 ,no one was so akin to him in this respect as the painter of his choice1 ,albert ,drer4 ,this last is a reference to those strutting1 finely-dressed portraits of the artist which stand beside the entablatures bearing his name1 that of his birthplace1 the date1 c41 in four out of the five most elaborate pictures which ,drer painted4 ,but ,i would like to suggest that probably this apparent resemblance to his royal patron is not thus altogether well accounted for4 ,may there not have been something of ,homer's invocation of his ,muse1 or of that sincerity which makes ,dante play such a large part in the ,divine ,comedy8--something resembling the ninth verse of the ,apocalypse3 ,i ,john1 who also am your brother and companion in tribulation 444 was in the isle that is called ,patmos 444 and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet1 saying4444 ,those little strutting portraits of himself sprung1 perhaps1 out of this relation to those about him of the man by native gift very superior1 who is not made contemptuous or inclined to emphasise his isolation1 but who is ever ready to say1 ,it is ,i1 be not afraid4 ,the man who painted and conceived this is the man you know1 whom you have admired because he carried his fine clothes so well in your streets4 ,here ,i am even in the midst of this massacre of saints1 ,i have conceived it all and taken a whole year to elaborate it2 and since you see me looking so cool and well-dressed in the midst of it1 you need not be offended or overwhelmed4 ,such is ever the navety of great souls among those whose culture is primitive4 ,it is like the boasted bravery of the eldest among little children1 wholly an act of kindness and consideration1 not a selfish vaunt4 ,that they should be admired and trusted is for them a foregone conclusion2 and when they call on that admiration and trust1 they do it merely for the sake of those whom they would encourage and console1 for whose sakes they will even hide whatever in them is really unworthy of such admiration and such trust4 ,we do not easily realise the corporate character of life in those days4 ,very much that seems to us quaint and absurd drew proper significance from the practical solidarity that then obtained2 what appears to us a strange vanity or parade may have appeared to them respect for the guild1 the town1 the country to which they belonged4 ,drer signed ,noricus1--of ,nuremberg2--and preferred its little lucrative citizenship to those more remunerative offered by ,venice and ,antwerp4 ,let all the world behold how fine the artist of ,nuremberg is4 ,just as he says1 ,god gave me diligence1 so it seems natural to him to attribute a large half of his fame and glory to his native town4 ,in many respects the great man of those days felt less individual than an ordinary man does now2 for classes did not so merge one into the other1 and their character was more distinct and authoritative4 ,the little portrait of himself added to those wonderful tours-de-force made them something that belonged to ,nuremberg and to ,germans4 ,even so it would be with some treasure cup1 all gold and jewels1 belonging to a village schoolmaster1 which none of his neighbours dared look at save in his presence2 for he was the son of a great baron whom his elder brothers robbed of everything except this1 and his presence among them alone made them able to feel that it really belonged to their village1 was theirs in a fashion4 ,these suggestions will not1 ,i think1 appear fantastic to those who ponder on the apparently vainglorious address of much of ,drer's work1 and keep in mind such a passage from his writings as this3 ,i would gladly give everything ,i know to the light1 for the good of cunning students who prize such art more highly than silver and gold4 ,i further admonish all who have any knowledge in these matters that they write it down4 ,do it truly and plainly1 not toilsomely and at great length1 for the sake of those who seek and are glad to learn1 to the great honour of ,god and your own praise4 ,if ,i then set something burning1 and ye all add to it skilful furthering1 a blaze may in time arise therefrom which shall shine throughout the whole world4#bb ,but still1 even if such considerations may bring many to accept my explanation of this contrast1 ,i do not want to over-insist on it4 ,i think that wherever men have been superior in character1 as well as in gift or rank1 to those about them1 something of this spirit of the good eldest child in a family is bound to be manifested4 ,but just as such a child may be veritably boastful and vain at other times1--however purely now and then1 in crises of apparent difficulty or danger1 its vaunt and strut may spring from real kindness and a considerate wish to inspire courage in the younger and weaker2--so doubtless there was a haughtiness1 sometimes a fault1 in ,drer as in ,milton4 ,,vi ,but we have been led a long way from ,kaiser ,max and his portable monument4 ,the reader will re-picture how the court arrived at ,nuremberg like a troop of actors1 whose performance was really their life1 and was taken quite seriously and admired heartily by the good and solid burghers4 ,this old comedy1 often farce1 entitled ,the ,importance of ,authority1 is no longer played with such a telling make-up1 or with such showy properties as formerly1 but is still as popular as ever2 as we ,londoners know1 since the last few years have given us perhaps an over-dose of processions1 illuminations1 c4 c4 ,in this case the chief actors in the show piece were men of mark of an exceptionally entertaining character2 with many of them ,drer and ,pirkheimer were soon on the best of terms4 ,foremost1 ,johann ,stabius1 the companion of the ,emperor for sixteen years without intermission in war and in peace1 who was associated with ,drer to provide the written accompaniment for the monument2 a literary jack-of-all-trades of ready wit and lively presence4 ,a contemporary records3 ,the emperor took constant pleasure in the strange things which ,stabius devised1 and esteemed him so highly that he instituted a new chair of ,astronomy and ,mathematics for him at ,vienna1 in the ,collegium ,poetarum et ,mathematicorum founded in the year #aeja1 under the presidency of ,conrad ,celtes4 ,in all probability there would have been besides the learned protonotary of the supreme court1 ,ulrich ,varenbuler1 often mentioned as a friend in the letters of ,erasmus and ,pirkheimer1 and the subject of the largest of ,drer's portrait woodcuts1 which shows him to us some ten years later1 still a handsome trenchant personality1 with a liking for fine clothes1 and the self-reliant expression of a man who is conscious that the thought he takes for the morrow is not likely to be in vain4 ,it may be that ,drer then met for the first time too the ,imperial architect1 ,johannes ,tscherte1 for whom he afterwards drew two armillary spheres1 to take the place of those on which he had cast ridicule2 for ,pirkheimer wrote to ,tscherte3 ,i wish you could have heard how ,albert ,drer spoke to me about your plate1 in which there is not one good stroke1 and laughed at me4 ,what honour it will do us when it makes its appearance in ,italy1 and the clever painters there see it6 ,to which ,tscherte replied3 ,albert ,drer knows me well1 he is also well aware that ,i love art1 though ,i am no expert at it2 let him if he likes despise my plate1 ,i never pretended it was a work of art4 ,and in a later letter he speaks of the armillary spheres drawn by our common friend ,albert ,drer4 ,he was one of those who helped ,drer in his mathematical and geometrical studies2 and he1 like ,pirkheimer1 dedicated books to him4 ,although the mathematics of those times are hardly considered seriously nowadays1 they then ranked with verse-making as a polite accomplishment1 and had all the charm of novelty4 ,drer1 no doubt1 had some gift that way1 as he seems to have made a hobby of them during many years4 ,besides those who came in the ,imperial troop1 ,drer had many opportunities of meeting men of this kind1 for such were constantly passing through ,nuremberg4 ,drer has left us what are evidently portraits of some whose names are lost3 of others we have both name and likeness1 among them the ,english ambassador1 ,lord ,morley4 ,in #aeae ,rafahel de' ,urbin1 who is held in such high esteem by the ,pope1 he made these naked figures and sent them to ,albrecht ,drer at ,nuremberg to show him his hand4 ,this shows us that travellers through ,nuremberg sometimes brought with them something of the breath of the great ,renaissance in ,italy4 ,the drawing1 which bears the above inscription in ,drer's own handwriting on the back1 is a fine one in red sanguine1 representing the same male model in two different poses1 in the ,albertina4 ,raphael had1 we are told by ,lodovico ,dolce1 drawings1 engravings1 and woodcuts of ,drer's hanging in his studio2 and ,vasari tells us he said3 ,if ,drer had been acquainted with the antique he would have surpassed us all4 ,the ,nuremberg master1 in return for the drawing1 sent a portrait of himself to ,raphael1 which has unfortunately been lost4 ,there appears to have been quite a rage for ,drer's work in ,italy1 and above all at ,rome3 we know that it provoked ,michael ,angelo to remonstrate2 probably on many lips it was merely a vaunt of superior knowledge or taste1 as rapture over the conjectural friends or aids of a great quatrocentist is to-day4 ,the tokens of esteem which he won from distinguished travellers1 and this drawing which reached him testifying to the interest and friendship felt for him by the ,italian whose fame was most widespread1 must have been full of encouragement1 and have compensated in some measure for the feeling he had that he was only a hanger-on at ,nuremberg1 though he might still have been a gentleman in ,venice4 ,yet ,nuremberg itself furnished many desirable or notable acquaintances4 ,there was ,drer's neighbour1 the jurist1 ,lazarus ,spengler2 later the most prominent reformer in ,nuremberg1 who in #aebj dedicated to him his ,exhortation and ,instruction towards the leading of a virtuous life1 addressing him as his particular and confidential friend and brother1 whom he considers1 without any flattery1 to be a man of understanding1 inclined to honesty and every virtue1 who has often in our daily familiar intercourse been to me in no common degree a pattern and an example to a more circumspect way of life2 whom1 finally1 he asks to improve his little book to the best of his ability4 ,drer had before this rendered him service in designing his coat of arms for a woodcut and furnishing a frontispiece to his translation of ,eusebius' ,life of ,st4 ,jerome4 ,he was1 moreover1 a poet1 author of an often-translated song2 he wrote verses to discourage ,drer from spending his time in producing the doggerel rhymes which at one time he was moved to attempt1--framing poems of didactic import1 and publishing one or two on separate sheets with a woodcut at the top1 in spite of the inappreciative reception given to them by ,spengler and ,pirkheimer4 ,besides ,spengler1 there were ,christopher ,kress1 a soldier1 a traveller1 and a town councillor2 and ,caspar ,ntzel1 of one of the oldest families1 and ,captain-general of the town bands4 ,both of these went with ,drer to the ,diet at ,augsburg in #aeah4 ,the martial ,paumgartners were two brothers for whom ,drer painted the early triptych at ,munich 7see page #bjd74 ,one of them is supposed to figure as ,st4 ,george in the ,all ,saints picture4 ,lastly1 there were the ,imhoffs1 the merchant princes of ,nuremberg1 as the ,fuggers were at ,augsburg4 ,a son of the family married ,felicitas1 ,pirkheimer's favourite daughter1 in #aeae1 and ,drer stood godfather to their little ,hieronymus in #aeah4 ,it is easy to imagine that there was many a supper and dinner1 when a thousand strange subjects were even more strangely discussed2 when ,pirkheimer now made them roar with a hazardous joke1 or again dumbfounded them with ,greek quotations pompously done into ,german1 or made their flesh creep and the superstitions of their race stir in them by mysteriously enlarging on his astrological lore1--for to his many weaknesses he added this1 which was then scarcely recognised as one4 ,,vii ,in spite of all his wealthy and influential friends1 ,drer found it difficult to get the emperor to indemnify him for his labours1 though the ,town ,council had received a royal mandate as early as #aeab from ,landau4 ,the following is an extract3 ,whereas our and the ,empire's trusty ,albrecht ,drer has devoted much zeal to the drawings he has made for us at our command1 and has promised henceforth ever to do the like1 whereat we have received particular pleasure2 and whereas we are informed on all hands that the said ,drer is famous in the art of painting before all other ,masters3 we have therefore felt ourself moved1 to further him with our especial grace1 and we accordingly desire you with earnest solicitude1 for the affection you bear us1 to make the said ,drer free of all town imposts1 having regard to our grace and to his famous art1 which should fairly turn to his profit with you1 c4 ,the town councillors sent some of their principal members to treat with ,drer1 and he resigned his claim in order to honour the said councillors and to maintain their privileges1 usages1 and rights4 ,in #aeae the drawings for the ,gate of ,honour were finished1 and ,drer began to press again for pay4 ,stabius had promised to speak for him1 but nothing had come of it4 ,albrecht thought ,christoph ,kress could be of more avail2 so he wrote to him3 7,no date1 but certainly #aeae74 ,,dear ,,herr ,,kress1 ,the first thing ,i have to ask you is to find out from ,herr ,stabius whether he has done anything in my business with his ,imperial ,majesty1 and how it stands4 ,let me know this in the next letter you write to my ,lords4 ,should it happen that ,herr ,stabius has made no move in the matter1 444 ,point out in particular to his ,imperial ,majesty that ,i have served his ,majesty for three years1 spending my own money in so doing1 and if ,i had not been diligent the ornamental work would have been nowise so successfully finished4 ,i therefore pray his ,imperial ,majesty to recompense me with the #ajj florins--all which you know well how to do4 ,you must know also that ,i made many other drawings for his ,majesty besides the ,triumph4 ,not long after this1 ,maximilian1 by a ,privilegium 7dated ,innsbruck1 ,september #f1 #aeae71 settled an annual pension of #ajj florins on the artist4 ,we ,maximilian1 by ,god's grace1 c41 make openly known by this letter for ourself and our successors in the ,empire1 and to each and every one to wit1 that we have regarded and considered the art1 skill1 and intelligence for which our and the ,empire's trusty and well-beloved ,albrecht ,drer has been praised before us1 and likewise the pleasing1 honest and useful services which he has often and willingly done for us and the ,holy ,empire and also for our own person in many ways1 and which he still daily does and henceforward may and shall do3 and that we therefore1 of set purpose1 after mature deliberation1 and with the full knowledge of ourself and the ,princes and ,estates of the ,empire1 have graciously promised and granted to this same ,drer what we herewith and by virtue of this letter make known3 ,that is to say1 that one hundred florins ,rhenish shall be yielded1 given1 and paid by the honourable1 our and the ,empire's trusty and well-beloved ,burgomaster and ,council of the town of ,nrnberg and their successors unto the said ,albrecht ,drer1 against his quittance1 all his life long and no longer1 yearly and in every year1 on our behalf1 out of the customary town contributions which the said ,burgomaster and ,council of the town of ,nrnberg are bound to yield and pay1 yearly and in every year1 into our ,treasury4 ,and whatever the said ,burgomaster and ,council of the town of ,nrnberg and their successors shall yield1 give1 and pay to the said ,albrecht ,drer1 as stands written above1 against his quittance1 the same sum shall be accepted and reckoned to them as paid and yielded for the customary town contributions which they1 as stands written above1 are bound to pay into our ,treasury1 as if they had paid the same into our own hands and received our quittance therefor1 and no harm or detriment shall in anywise be done therefor unto them or their successors by us or our successors in the ,empire4 ,whereof this letter1 sealed with our affixed seal1 is witness4 ,given1 c4 ,thus ,drer became ,court painter3 in return for his salary he had to work4 ,as soon as the ,gate of ,honour was finished1 there was the ,car of ,triumph to be taken in hand1 the first sketch for it 7now in the ,albertina7 having already been made about #aead-ae4 ,in ,december #aead ,schnsperger1 the ,augsburg printer1 printed a splendid ,book of ,hours for ,maximilian4 ,the type was specially made for the book1 and only a few copies were printed1 some on fine vellum with large margins4 ,one copy which ,maximilian intended for his own use was sent to ,drer that he might decorate the margins with pen-drawings in various coloured inks4 ,of this work there exist forty-three pages by ,drer himself and eight by ,cranach at ,munich1 and at ,besanon thirty-five pages by ,burgkmair1 ,altdorfer1 ,baldung ,grien1 and ,hans ,drer4 ,marvellously deft and light-handed as are ,drer's freehand arabesques1 embellished by racy sketches of which these borders consist1 they are nevertheless touched with a like unsatisfactory character with the other works undertaken for ,maximilian1 and are almost as far removed from the spirit and performance of the best period for this kind of work1 as is the ,triumphal ,arch from that of ,titus4 ,drer was also employed on another woodcut representing a long row of saintly ancestors of this eccentric sovereign4 ,he accompanied ,caspar ,ntzel and ,lazarus ,spengler1 the representatives of ,nuremberg1 to the ,diet of ,augsburg1 and there made some drawings of his royal patron1 on one of which is written1 ,this is my dear ,prince ,max1 whom ,i1 ,albrecht ,drer1 drew at ,augsburg in his little room upstairs in the palace1 in the year #aeah1 on the ,monday after ,st4 ,john the ,baptist's day4 7,see opposite47 ,and ,melanchthon narrates that once ,max himself took the charcoal in hand to make his mind clear to his trusty ,albert1 and was vexed to find that the charcoal kept breaking short in his hand when ,drer said2 ',most gracious emperor1 ,i would not that your ,majesty should draw so well as ,i do6' by which he meant1 ',i am practised in this1 and it is my province2 thou1 ,emperor1 hast harder tasks and another calling4' ,illustration3 ,by permission of ,messrs4 ,braun1 ,clment ,co4 ,dornach4--,this is the ,emperor ,maximilian1 whose likeness ,i1 ,albrecht ,drer1 have taken1 at ,augsburg1 high up in the palace in his little chamber1 in the year of ,grace #aeah1 on ,monday after ,st4 ,john the ,baptist's ,day ,charcoal-,drawing4 ,albertina1 ,vienna ,,viii ,a charming letter from ,charitas ,pirkheimer gives us a little sunlit glimpse of the tone of ,drer's lighter hours4 ,the prudent and wise ,masters ,caspar ,ntzel1 ,lazarus ,spengler1 and ,albrecht ,drer1 for the time being at ,augsburg1 our gracious ,masters and good friends4 ,jesus4 ,as a friendly greeting1 prudent1 wise1 gracious ,masters and especially good friends1 cousins1 and wellwishers1 ,i desire every good thing for you1 from the ,highest ,good4 ,i received with great pleasure your friendly letter and its news of a kind suited to my order1 or rather my trade2 and ,i read it with such great devotion that more than once tears ran down my eyes over it--truly rather tears of laughter than of sorrow4 ,i consider it a subject for great thankfulness that1 with such important business and so much gaiety on hand1 your ,wisdoms do not forget me1 but find time to instruct me1 poor little nun1 about the monastic life whereof you now have a clear reflection before your eyes4 ,i conclude from this that doubtless some good spirit drove you1 my gracious and dear ,masters1 to ,augsburg1 so that you might learn from the example of the free ,swabian spirits how to instruct and govern the poor imprisoned sand-bares4#bc ,for since our trusty ,master ,warden 7,caspar ,ntzel71 as a lover of the ,church1 likes to help in a thorough reformation1 he should first behold a pattern of holy observance in the ,swabian ,league4 ,let ,master ,lazarus ,spengler1 too1 inform himself well about the apostolic mode of common life1 so that at the annual audit he may be able to give us and others counsel and guidance1 how we may run through everything1 that nought remain over4 ,and ,master ,albrecht ,drer1 also1 who is such a genius and master at drawing1 he may very carefully inspect the stately buildings1 and then if some day we want to alter our choir he will know how to give us advice and help in making ample slide-windows 78 blinds71 so that our eyes may not be quite blinded4 ,i shall not further trouble you1 however1 to bring us music to learn to sing by notes1 for our beer is now so very sour that ,i fear the dregs might stick fast among the four reeds or voices1 and produce such strange sounds that the dogs would fly out of the church4 ,but ,i must humbly pray you not quite to wear out your eyes over the black and white magpies1 so as no longer to know the little grey wolves at ,nrnberg4 ,i have heard much of the sharp-witted ,swabians all my life1 but it would be well if we learnt more from them1 now that they are so wisely labouring with his ,imperial ,majesty to save the ,apostolic life from being done away with4 ,it is easy to see what very different lovers of the ,church they are from our ,masters here4 ,pardon me1 my dear and gracious ,masters1 this my playful letter4 ,it is all done in caritate--summa summarum2 and the end of it is that ,i should rejoice at your speedy return in health and happiness with the glad accomplishment of the business committed to you4 ,for this ,i and my sisters heartily pray ,god day and night2 still we cannot carry it through alone1 so ,i counsel you to entreat the pious and pure hearts 7of ,augsburg7 to sing in high quavers that thereby things may speed well4 ,and now many happy times to you6 ,given at ,nrnberg on ,september #c1 #aeah4 ,,sister ,,charitas1 unprofitable ,abbess of ,s4 ,clara's at ,nrnberg4 ,drer returned with a letter to the ,town ,council of ,nrnberg1 from which the following extract is taken3 ,honourable1 trusty1 and well-beloved1 ,whereas you are bound to pay us on next ,st4 ,martin's day year a remainder1 to wit #bjj florins ,rhenish1 out of the accustomed town contribution which you are wont to render into our and the ,empire's treasury4444,we earnestly charge you to deliver and pay the said #bjj florins1 accepting our quittance therefor1 unto our and the ,empire's trusty and well-beloved ,albrecht ,drer1 our painter1 on account of his honest services1 willingly rendered to us at our command for our ,car of ,triumph and in other ways2 and1 at the said time1 these #bjj florins shall be deducted for you from the accustomed town contribution4 ,thus you will perform our earnest desire4 ,given1 c4 ,drer procured a receipt for the #bjj florins1 signed by the emperor himself4 ,but before next ,st4 ,martin's day year1 ,maximilian was dead1 and the #bjj florins no longer his to dispose of1 being due to the new ,emperor ,charles ,v4 ,the municipal authorities of ,nrnberg refused to pay until his ,privilegium had been confirmed by ,maximilian's successor4 ,drer wrote the following letter to the ,council3 ,n,,rnberg1 ,april #bg1 #aeai4 ,prudent1 honourable and wise1 gracious1 dear ,lords4 ,your ,honours are aware that1 at the ,diet lately holden by his ,imperial ,roman ,majesty1 our most gracious lord of very praiseworthy memory1 ,i obtained a gracious assignment from his ,imperial ,majesty of #bjj florins from the yearly payable town contributions of ,nrnberg4 ,this assignment was granted to me1 after many applications and much trouble1 in return for the zealous work and labour1 which1 for a long time previously1 ,i had devoted to his ,majesty4 ,and he sent you order and command to that effect1 signed with his accustomed signature1 and quittance in all form1 which quittance1 duly sealed1 is in my hands4 ,now ,i rest humbly confident that your ,honours will graciously remember me as your obedient burgher1 who has employed much time in the service and work of his ,imperial ,majesty1 our most rightful ,lord1 with but small recompense1 and has thereby lost both profit and advantage in other ways4 ,and therefore ,i trust that you will now deliver me these #bjj florins to his ,imperial ,majesty's order and quittance1 that so ,i may receive a fitting reward and satisfaction for my care1 pains1 and work--as1 no doubt1 was his ,imperial ,majesty's intention4 ,but seeing that some ,emperor or ,king might in the future claim these #bjj florins from your ,honours1 or might not be willing to spare them1 but might some day demand them back again from me1 ,i am1 therefore1 willing to relieve your ,honours and the town of this chance1 by appointing and mortgaging1 as security and pledge therefor1 my tenement situated at the corner under the ,veste1 and which belonged to my late father1 that so your ,honours may suffer neither prejudice nor loss thereby4 ,thus am ,i ready to serve your ,honours1 my gracious rulers and ,lords4 ,your ,wisdoms' willing burgher1 ,,albrecht ,d,,rer4 ,illustration3 ,,frederick ,,the ,,wise4 ,silver-point drawing1 ,british ,museum4 ,drer next wrote to the honourable1 most learned ,master ,georg ,spalatin1 ,chaplain to my most gracious lord1 ,duke ,friedrich1 the ,elector of ,saxony4 ,the letter is undated1 but clearly belongs to the early part of the year #aebj4 ,most worthy and dear ,master1 ,i have already sent you my thanks in the short letter1 for then ,i had only read your brief note4 ,it was not till afterwards1 when the bag in which the little book was wrapped was turned inside out1 that ,i for the first time found the real letter in it1 and learnt that it was my most gracious ,lord himself who sent me ,luther's little book4 ,so ,i pray your worthiness to convey most emphatically my humble thanks to his ,electoral ,grace1 and in all humility to beseech his ,electoral ,grace to take the praiseworthy ,dr4 ,martin ,luther under his protection for the sake of ,christian truth4 ,for that is of more importance to us than all the power and riches of this world2 because all things pass away with time1 ,truth alone endures for ever4 ,god helping me1 if ever ,i meet ,dr4 ,martin ,luther1 ,i intend to draw a careful portrait of him from the life and to engrave it on copper1 for a lasting remembrance of a ,christian man who helped me out of great distress4 ,and ,i beg your worthiness to send me for my money anything new that ,dr4 ,martin may write4 ,as to ,spengler's ,apology for ,luther1 about which you write1 ,i must tell you that no more copies are in stock2 but it is being reprinted at ,augsburg1 and ,i will send you some copies as soon as they are ready4 ,but you must know that1 though the book was printed here1 it is condemned in the pulpit as heretical and meet to be burnt1 and the man who published it anonymously is abused and defamed4 ,it is reported that ,dr4 ,eck wanted to burn it in public at ,ingolstadt1 as was done to ,dr4 ,reuchlin's book4 ,with this letter ,i send for my most gracious lord three impressions of a copper-plate of my most gracious lord of ,mainz1 which ,i engraved at his request4 ,i sent the copper-plate with #bjj impressions as a present to his ,electoral ,grace1 and he graciously sent me in return #bjj florins in gold and #bj ells of damask for a coat4 ,i joyfully and thankfully accepted them1 especially as ,i was in want of them at that time4 ,his ,imperial ,majesty also1 of praiseworthy memory1 who died too soon for me1 had graciously made provision for me1 because of the great and long-continued labour1 pains1 and care1 which ,i spent in his service4 ,but now the ,council will no longer pay me the #ajj florins1 which ,i was to have received every year of my life from the town taxes1 and which was yearly paid to me during his ,majesty's lifetime4 ,so ,i am to be deprived of it in my old age and to see the long time1 trouble1 and labour all lost which ,i spent for his ,imperial ,majesty4 ,as ,i am losing my sight and freedom of hand my affairs do not look well4 ,i don't care to withhold this from you1 kind and trusted ,sir4 ,if my gracious lord remembers his debt to me of the staghorns1 may ,i ask your ,worship to keep him in mind of them1 so that ,i may get a fine pair4 ,i shall make two candlesticks of them4 ,i send you here two little prints of the ,cross from a plate engraved in gold4 ,one is for your ,worship4 ,give my service to ,hirschfeld and ,albrecht ,waldner4 ,now1 your ,worship1 commend me faithfully to my most gracious lord1 the ,elector4 ,your willing ,,albrecht ,d,,rer at ,nrnberg4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #bj3 ,the ,massacre of the ,ten ,thousand ,saints4 ,footnote #ba3 ,supposed to be the ,madonna with the ,iris4 ,footnote #bb3 ,literary ,remains of ,albrecht ,drer1 p4 #agh4 ,footnote #bc3 ,the soil about ,nrnberg is sandy4 ,,chapter ,v ,d,,rer1 ,,luther ,,and ,,the ,,humanists ,i ,but while ,drer was thus busily at work or dunning his great debtors1 ,luther had appeared4 ,in #aeag he nailed his ninety-five theses to the door of ,wittenberg church1 and ,cardinal ,caietan by the unlucky ,leo ,x4 was poured like oil upon the fire which they had lighted4 ,luther had been summoned to meet the ,cardinal at the ,diet of ,augsburg1 where ,drer went to see ,maximilian1 though he only arrived there after our friends from ,nuremberg had departed4 ,however1 ,luther passed through ,nuremberg on foot1 and borrowed a coat of a friend there in order to figure with decency before the ,diet4 ,yet ,drer probably did not meet him1 although the words in the letter to ,george ,spalatin1 quoted above1 ,if ever ,i meet ,dr4 ,martin ,luther1 ,i intend to draw a careful portrait of him and engrave it on copper1 do not forbid the possibility of this early meeting before the ,reformer had become so famous4 ,next the ,pope tried to soothe by sending ,miltitz with flatteries and promises--a man that could smile and weep to order1 but who succeeded neither with the ,elector ,frederic1 nor with ,luther1 nor with ,germany4 ,at ,nuremberg the preacher ,wenzel ,link soon formed a little reformed congregation1 to which ,drer1 ,pirkheimer1 ,spengler1 ,ntzel1 ,scheurl1 ,ebner1 ,holzschurher1 and others belonged4 ,we have already seen how1 soon after this1 ,drer was anxious for ,luther's safety1 by the letter to the wise ,elector1 quoted above2 and in #aeah he sent ,luther a number of his prints1 and soon after joined with others of ,link's hearers to send a greeting of encouragement4 ,and before long we find him jotting down a list of sixteen of ,luther's tracts1 either because he intended to get and read them1 or because they were already his2 and on the back of a drawing we find the following outline of the faith such as he then apprehended it1 in which we see clearly that ,christ has become the voice of conscience--the power in a man by which he recognises and creates good4 ,seeing that through disobedience of sin we have fallen into everlasting ,death1 no help could have reached us save through the incarnation of the ,son of ,god1 whereby ,he through ,his innocent suffering might abundantly pay the ,father all our guilt1 so that the ,justice of ,god might be satisfied4 ,for ,he has repented1 of and made atonement for the sins of the whole world1 and has obtained of the ,father ,everlasting ,life4 ,therefore ,christ ,jesus is the ,son of ,god1 the highest power1 who can do all things1 and ,he is the ,eternal life4 ,into whomsoever ,christ comes he lives1 and himself lives in ,christ4 ,therefore all things are in ,christ good things4 ,there is nothing good in us except it becomes good in ,christ4 ,whosoever1 therefore1 will altogether justify himself is unjust4 ,if we will what is good1 ,christ wills it in us4 ,no human repentance is enough to equalise deadly sin and be fruitful4 ,in this the old mythological language is retained1 but it has received a new interpretation or significance1 and this quite without the writer's perceiving what he is doing4 ,christ is affirmed to have repented of the sins of the whole world4 ,among the early heresiarchs there were1 ,i believe1 some who went so far as to hold that he had committed the sins before he repented of them1 and triumphed over their effects by his sufferings and death4 ,in any case1 a similar feeling is expressed by our odd mystic ,blake in his ,everlasting ,gospel3 ,if ,he 7,jesus7 intended to take on sin1 ,his mother should an harlot have bin4 ,the actual records of ,christ are too meagre the moment he is regarded as an allegory of human life2 and such additions to the creed spring naturally out of the ardent seeker's desire to realise the universality implied in the dogma of his ,godhead1 which is accepted even by ,blake as a historical fact beyond question4 ,it was not the character of so much as can be perceived of the universe which daunted ,luther and ,drer1 as it daunts the serious man to-day4 ,they accepted what appears to us a cheap and easy subterfuge1 because they believed it to have been prescribed by ,god2 the ambiguous inferences which such a prescription must logically cast on the ,divine character did not arrest their attention4 ,what they gained was a free conscience1 a conscience in which ,christ was1 to use their language1 and which was in ,christ2 and for practical piety this was sufficient4 ,they themselves had not made up their minds on theoretical points2 it was only in the face of their opponents that they thought of arming themselves with like weapons1 and sought a mechanical agreement upon questions about which no one ever has known1 or probably ever can know1 anything at all4 ,this was where ,luther's pugnacity betrayed him2 so that little by little he seems to lose spiritual beauty1 as the monk1 all fire and intensity1 is transformed into the plump doctor1 and again into the bird of ill omen who croaked4 ,the arts are growing as if there was to be a new start and the world was to become young again4 ,i hope ,god will finish with it4 ,we have come already to the ,white ,horse4 ,another hundred years and all will be over4 ,compare this with ,drer's3 ,sure am ,i that many notable men will arise1 all of whom will write both well and better about this art than ,i4 ,would to ,god that it were possible for me to see the work and art of the mighty masters to come1 who are yet unborn1 for ,i know that ,i might be improved4 ,i do not want to judge ,luther harshly2 he had done splendidly1 and it is difficult to meddle with worldly things without soiling one's fingers and depressing one's heart2 but ,i ask which of these two quotations expresses man's most central character best--the desire for nobler life--which reveals the more admirable temper8 7,drer had been touched by the spirit of the ,renaissance as well as by that of the ,reformation2 we can distinguish easily when he is speaking under the one influence1 when under the other1 and the contrast often impresses one as the contrast between the above quotations4 ,and it gives us great reason to deplore that the two spirits could not work side by side as they did in ,drer and a few rare souls1 but that in the world there was war between them47 ,it seems inevitable that the things men fight about should always be spoiled4 ,the best part of written thought is something that cannot be analysed1 cannot therefore be defended or used for offence2 it is a spirit1 an emanation1 something that influences us more subtly than we know how to describe4 ,we see by the passage quoted that ,drer was not only influenced by ,luther's heroism1 but by his doctrinal theorising4 ,unfortunately we do not know whether he outgrew this second and less admirable influence4 ,did he feel like his friend ,pirkheimer in the end1 that the new evangelical knaves made the old popish knaves seem pious by contrast8 ,milton under similar circumstances came to think that ,new ,presbyter is but old ,priest writ large4 ,probably not2 for just as we know he did not abandon what seemed to him beautiful and helpful in old ,catholic ceremonies1 usages1 and conceptions1 so probably he would not confuse what had been real gain in the ,reformation with the excesses of ,anabaptists or ,socialists1 or even of ,luther himself or his followers4 ,there is no reason to suppose he would have judged so hastily as the gouty irascible ,pirkheimer1 however much he may have deplored the course of events4 ,it must have been evident to thoughtful men1 then1 that it was impossible for so large an area to be furnished with properly trained pastors in so short a time1 and that therefore more or less deplorable material was bound to be mingled in the official personnel of the new sect4 ,it is impossible1 when we consider how he solved the precisely parallel difficulty in aesthetics1 not to feel that if he had had time given him1 he would have arrived in point of doctrine at a moderation similar to that of ,erasmus4 ,men deliberate and hold numberless differing opinions about beauty4444 ,being then1 as we are1 in such a state of error1 ,i know not certainly what the ultimate measure of true beauty is4444 ,because now we cannot altogether attain unto perfection shall we1 therefore1 wholly cease from learning8 ,by no means 444 for it behoveth the rational man to choose the good4 7,see the passage complete on page #ae47 ,luther imagined that the faith that saved was entire confidence in the fact that a bargain had been struck between the ,persons of the ,trinity1 according to which ,christ's sacrifice should be accepted as satisfying the justice of his ,father1 outraged by ,adam's fault4 ,to-day this appears to the majority of educated men a fantastic conception4 ,for them the faith that saves is love of goodness1 as love of beauty saves the artist from mistakes into which his intelligence would often plunge him4 ,jesus has no claim upon us superior to his goodness and his beauty2 nor can we conceive of the possibility of such a claim4 ,but we recognise with ,drer that we do not know what the true measure of goodness and beauty is1 and all that we can do is to choose always the good and the beautiful according to the measure of our reason--to the fulness of the light at present granted to us4 ,,ii ,the curiosity of the modern man of science no doubt is descended from that of men like ,leonardo and the early ,humanists1 but it differs from almost more than it resembles it4 ,the motive power behind both is no doubt the confidence of the healthy mind that the human intelligence will ultimately prove adequate to comprehend the spectacle of the universe4 ,but for the ,humanists1 for ,drer and his friends1 the consciousness of the irreconcilableness of that spectacle with the necessary ideals of human nature had not produced1 as in our contemporaries and our immediate forerunners it has produced1 either the atrophy of expectation which afflicts some1 or the extravagance of ingenuity that cannot rest till it has rationalised hope1 which torments others4 ,they were saddled with neither the indifference nor the restlessness of the modern intellect4 ,they escaped like boys on a holiday4 ,they felt conscious of doing what their schoolmaster meant them to do1 though they were actually doing just what they liked4 ,it was all for the glory of ,god in ,drer's mind2 but how or why ,god should be pleased with what he did1 did not trouble him4 ,he engraved and sold impressions of a plate representing a sow with eight legs2 he made a drawing1 which is at ,oxford1 of an infant girl with two heads and four arms1 and calmly wrote beneath it3-- ,item1 in the year reckoned #aeab1 after the birth of ,christ1 such a creature 7,frucht7 as is represented above1 was born in ,bavaria1 on the ,lord of ,werdenberg's land1 in a village named ,ertingen over against ,riedlingen4 ,it was on the #bjth of the hay month 7,july71 and they were baptized1 the one head ,elspett1 the other ,margrett4 ,just so1 ,luther is no more than ,st4 ,paul abashed to say that ,god had need of some men intended for dishonour1 as a potter makes some vessels for honourable1 some for dishonourable uses4 ,the modern mind at once reflects3 ,if that is the case1 so much the worse for ,god2 by so much is it impossible that ,i should ever worship ,him2 and it will prefer any prolongation of that most wholesome frame of mind1 a suspended judgment1 to accepting a solution so cheap as that offered by the ,apostle and ,reformer1 which has come to seem simply injurious4 ,the spirit of the enlarged schoolboy was1 ,i think1 really the attitude of the best minds then and onwards to ,descartes and ,spinoza4 ,they gave themselves up to the study of nature without ceasing to belong to their school1 yet freed1 as on a holiday1 from the constraint of being actually in it4 ,yet1 in regard to their personal and social life1 at least north of the ,alps1 the majority of such men were very consciously and dutifully under their great taskmaster's eye2 and in that also they differ in a measure from the more part of modern scientists4 ,drer made up a rhinoceros from a sketch and description sent to him from ,portugal1 whither the uncouth creature had been brought in a ship from ,goa4 ,drer's drawing was engraved and became the parent of innumerable rhinoceroses in lesson-books1 doing service right down well into the late century1 as ,thausing assures us4 ,the unfortunate original was sent as a present to ,leo ,x41 who wanted to see him fight with an elephant which had made him laugh by squirting water and kneeling down to be blessed as sensibly as a ,christian4 ,so the poor beast was shipped again1 only to be shipwrecked near ,porto ,venere1 where he was last seen swimming valiantly1 but hopelessly impeded by his chain1 and baffled by the rocky shore4 ,in the ,netherlands1 ,drer's curiosity to see a whale nearly resulted in his own shipwreck1 and indirectly produced the malady which finally killed him4 ,but ,drer's curiosity was really most scientific where it was most artistic2 in his portraits1 in his studies of plants and birds and the noses of stags1 or the slumber of lions4 ,doubtless it was not a very dissimilar motive which gained him entrance into the women's bath at ,nuremberg1 for we see he must have been there by the beautiful pen drawing at ,bremen and the slighter one of the same subject at ,chatsworth4 ,these drawings may also illustrate what in his book on the ,proportion he calls the words of difference--stout1 lean1 short1 tall1 c4 7see p4 #bhe71 as he would seem to have chosen types as various as possible1 ranging from the human sow to the slim and dignified beauty4 ,in the same spirit he studied perspective and the art of measuring2 he felt the importance to art of inquiry in these directions2 nevertheless1 to seize the beautiful elements in nature was ever the object of his efforts1 however1 roundabout they may sometimes appear to us4 ,the sight of a fine human figure is above all things the most pleasing to us1 wherefore ,i will first construct the right proportions of a man4 7,see p4 #cba47 ,his aesthetic curiosity had nothing in common with that which considers all objects and appearances as equally interesting4 ,what he meant by ,nature1 when he bid the artist have continual recourse to her1 was far from being the momentary and accidental appearance of any thing or things anywhere1--which the modern student of ,nature admires because he has neither sufficient force of character to prefer1 nor sufficient right feeling to defer to the preferences of those who have more4 ,leonardo's natural history is delightful reading1 because it combines such fantastic and inventive fables as surpass even the happiest efforts of our nonsense writers with a beautiful openness of mind which we see oftener in children than in sages1--which is1 in fact1 the seriousness of those who are truly learning1 and are not too conscious of what has already been learnt4 ,as a boy adds to the pleasure he has in adventuring further and further into a cave the delight of awesome supposition--for what may not the next turn reveal8--and is pleased to feel all his young machinery ready instantly to enact a panic if his torch should blow out1 and laughs at each furtive rehearsal of his own terror in which he indulges2--so the ,humanists turned from astronomy to astrology1 and used their skill in mathematics to play with horoscopes which they more than half believed might bite4 ,there was just enough doubt as to whether any given wonder was a miracle to make it interesting2 and at any moment the pall of superstition might stifle the flickering light of inquiry1 as we feel was the case when ,drer writes3 ,the most wonderful thing ,i ever saw occurred in the year #aejc1 when crosses fell upon many persons1 and especially on children rather than on elder people4 ,amongst others1 ,i saw one of the form which ,i have represented below4 ,it had fallen into ,eyrer's maid's shift1 as she was sitting in the house at the back of ,pirkheimer's 7i4e41 in the house where ,drer was born74 ,she was so troubled about it that she wept and cried aloud1 for she feared that she must die because of it4 ,i have also seen a comet in the sky4 ,and again1 the terror caused by a very bad and strange dream passes the bounds of play2 and one feels that the belief that a vision of the night might produce or prefigure dreadful change was for him something a great deal more serious than for the dilettante spiritualist and wonder-tickler of to-day4 ,he writes3 ,in the night between ,wednesday and ,thursday after ,whit ,sunday 7,may #cj-ca1 #aebe71 ,i saw this appearance in my sleep--how many great waters fell from heaven4 ,the first struck the earth about four miles away from me with terrific force and tremendous noise1 and it broke up and drowned the whole land4 ,i was so sore afraid that ,i awoke from it4 ,then the other waters fell1 and as they fell they were very powerful1 and there were many of them1 some further away1 some nearer4 ,and they came down from so great a height that they all seemed to fall with an equal slowness4 ,but when the first water that touched the earth had very nearly reached it1 it fell with such swiftness1 with wind and roaring1 and ,i was so sore afraid that when ,i awoke my whole body trembled1 and for a long while ,i could not recover myself4 ,so when ,i arose in the morning1 ,i painted it above here as ,i saw it ,god turn all these things to the best4 ,,albrecht ,d,,rer4 ,the instinct for recording which dictates such a note as this is characteristic of ,drer1 and called into being many of his drawings4 ,many such nave and explicit records as that on the drawing which ,raphael sent him are to be found in the flyleaves of books and on the margins of prints and drawings1 his possessions4 ,in such notes we may see not only an effect of the curiosity1 and desire to arrange and co-ordinate information1 which resulted in modern science2 but something that is akin to that worship and respect for the deeds and productions of those long dead or in distant countries1 in which the human spirit relieved itself from the oppressive expectation of judgment and vengeance which had paralysed it1 as the beauty of the supernatural world was lost sight of behind its terrors1 and witches and wizards engrossed the popular mind1 in which for a time saints and angels had held the ascendancy4 ,the future now became the return of a golden age2 not a garish and horrible novelty called heaven and hell1 but a human society beautiful as that of the ,greeks1 grand as that of republican ,rome1 sweet and hospitable as the household of ,jesus and ,mary4 ,the ,reformation is in part a return of the old fears2 but ,drer has recorded only one bad dream1 whereas he tells that he was often visited by dreams worthy of the glorious ,renascence4 ,would to ,god it were possible for me to see the work and art of the mighty masters to come1 who are yet unborn1 for ,i know that ,i might be improved4 ,ah6 how often in my sleep do ,i behold great works of art and beautiful things1 the like whereof never appear to me awake1 but so soon as ,i awake even the remembrance of them leaveth me6 ,why was he not sent to ,rome to see the ceiling of the ,sistina and ,raphael's ,stanze8 ,perchance it was these that he saw in his dreams8 ,,chapter ,,vi ,d,,rer',s ,,journey ,,to ,,the ,,netherlands ,i ,it is even more the case with ,drer's journal written in the ,netherlands than with the letters from ,venice that1 like life itself1 it is full of repetitions and over-insistence on what is insignificant4 ,i quote the most interesting passages1 and as there is never a good reason for doing again what has already been well done2 ,i am happy to quote ,sir ,martin ,conway's excellent notes1 having found occasion to add only one4 ,drer set out on ,july #ab1 #aebj1 with his wife and her maid ,susanna4 ,it was probably this ,susanna who three years later married ,georg ,penz1 one of the three godless painters4 ,drer took a great many prints and woodcuts1 books both to sell and to give as presents2 and besides he took a sketch book in which he made silver-point sketches and portraits4 ,a good number of its pages have come down to us1 and a great many of the portraits he mentions having taken were done in it1 and then cut out to give to the sitter4 ,all these drawings are on the same sized paper4 ,we reproduce one of them here 7see page #aef74 ,besides this sketch-book he evidently had a memorandum-book in which he recorded what he did1 what he spent1 whom he saw1 and occasionally what he felt or what he wished4 ,the original is lost1 but an old copy of it is in the ,bamberg ,library4 ,july #ab4--,on ,thursday after ,kilian's1 ,i1 ,albrecht ,drer1 at my own charges and costs1 took myself and my wife 7and maid ,susanna7 away to the ,netherlands4 ,and the same day1 after passing through ,erlangen1 we put up for the night at ,baiersdorf and spent there #c pounds less #f pfennigs4 ,july #ac4--,next day1 ,friday1 we came to ,forchheim1 and there ,i paid #bb pf4 for the convoy4 ,thence ,i journeyed to ,bamberg1 where ,i presented the ,bishop 7,georg ,,iii4 ,schenk von ,limburg#bd7 with a ,madonna painting1 a ,life of our ,lady1 an ,apocalypse1 and a ,horin's worth of engravings4 ,he invited me as his guest1 gave me a ,toll-pass#be and three letters of introduction1 and paid my bill at the inn1 where ,i had spent about a florin4 ,i paid six florins in gold to the boatman who took me from ,bamberg to ,frankfurt4 ,master ,lukas ,benedict and ,hans1#bf the painter1 sent me wine4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,antwerp1 ,august #b-bf1 #aebj4 ,at ,antwerp ,i went to ,jobst ,plankfelt's#bg inn1 and the same evening at ,fuggers' ,factor1#bh ,bernhard ,stecher invite and gave us a costly meal4 ,my wife1 however1 dined at the inn4 ,i paid the driver three gold florins for bringing us three1 and one st4 ,i paid for carrying the goods4 ,august #d4--,on ,saturday after the feast of ,st4 ,peter in ,chains my host took me to see the ,burgomaster's 7,arnold van ,liere7 house at ,antwerp4 ,it is newly built and beyond measure large1 and very well ordered1 with spacious and exceedingly beautiful chambers1 a tower splendidly ornamented1 a very large garden--altogether a noble house1 the like of which ,i have nowhere seen in all ,germany4 ,the house also is reached from both sides by a very long street1 which has been quite newly built according to the ,burgomaster's liking and at his charges4 ,i paid three st4 to the messenger1 two pf4 for bread1 two pf4 for ink4 ,august #e4--,on ,sunday1 it was ,st4 ,oswald's ,day1 the painters invited me to the hall of their guild1 with my wife and maid4 ,all their service was of silver1 and they had other splendid ornaments and very costly meats4 ,all their wives also were there4 ,and as ,i was being led to the table the company stood on both sides as if they were leading some great lord4 ,and there were amongst them men of very high position1 who all behaved most respectfully towards me with deep courtesy1 and promised to do everything in their power agreeable to me that they knew of4 ,and as ,i was sitting there in such honour the ,syndic 7,adrian ,horebouts7 of ,antwerp came1 with two servants1 and presented me with four cans of wine in the name of the ,town ,councillors of ,antwerp1 and they had bidden him say that they wished thereby to show their respect for me and to assure me of their good will4 ,wherefore ,i returned them my humble thanks and offered my humble service4 ,after that came ,master ,peeter 7,frans71 the town-carpenter1 and presented me with two cans of wine1 with the offer of his willing services4 ,so when we had spent a long and merry time together till late in the night1 they accompanied us home with lanterns in great honour4 ,and they begged me to be ever assured and confident of their good will1 and promised that in whatever ,i did they would be all-helpful to me4 ,so ,i thanked them and laid me down to sleep4 ,the ,treasurer 7,lorenz ,sterk7 also gave me a child's head 7painted7 on linen1 and a wooden weapon from ,calicut1 and one of the light wood reeds4 ,tomasin1 too1 has given me a plaited hat of alder bark4 ,i dined once with the ,portuguese1 and have given a brother of ,tomasin's three fl4 worth of engravings4 ,herr ,erasmus#bi has given me a small ,spanish mantilla and three men's portraits4 ,i took the portrait of ,herr ,niklas ,kratzer1#cj an astronomer4 ,he lives with the ,king of ,england1 and has been very helpful and useful to me in many matters4 ,he is a ,german1 a native of ,munich4 ,i also made the portrait of ,tomasin's daughter1 ,mistress ,zutta by name4 ,hans ,pfaffroth#ca gave me one ,philips fl4 for taking his portrait in charcoal4 ,i have dined once more with ,tomasin4 ,my host's brother-in-law entertained me and my wife once4 ,i changed two light florins for twenty-four st4 for living expenses1 and ,i gave one st4 tkd to a man who let me see an altar-piece4 ,illustration3 ,silver-point drawing on a white ground1 in the ,berlin ,print ,room ,august #ai4--,on the ,sunday after our dear ,lady's ,assumption ,i saw the great ,procession from the ,church of our ,lady at ,antwerp1 when the whole town of every craft and rank was assembled1 each dressed in his best according to his rank4 ,and all ranks and guilds had their signs1 by which they might be known4 ,in the intervals great costly pole-candles were borne1 and their long old ,frankish trumpets of silver4 ,there were also in the ,german fashion many pipers and drummers4 ,all the instruments were loudly and noisily blown and beaten4 ,i saw the procession pass along the street1 the people being arranged in rows1 each man some distance from his neighbour1 but the rows close one behind another4 ,there were the ,goldsmiths1 the ,painters1 the ,masons1 the ,broderers1 the ,sculptors1 the ,joiners1 the ,carpenters1 the ,sailors1 the ,fishermen1 the ,butchers1 the ,leatherers1 the ,clothmakers1 the ,bakers1 the ,tailors1 the ,cordwainers--indeed1 workmen of all kinds1 and many craftsmen and dealers who work for their livelihood4 ,likewise the shopkeepers and merchants and their assistants of all kinds were there4 ,after these came the shooters with guns1 bows1 and cross-bows1 and the horsemen and foot-soldiers also4 ,then followed the watch of the ,lords ,magistrates4 ,then came a fine troop all in red1 nobly and splendidly clad4 ,before them1 however1 went all the religious ,orders and the members of some ,foundations very devoutly1 all in their different robes4 ,a very large company of widows also took part in this procession4 ,they support themselves with their own hands and observe a special rule4 ,they were all dressed from head to foot in white linen garments1 made expressly for the occasion1 very sorrowful to see4 ,among them ,i saw some very stately persons4 ,last of all came the ,chapter of our ,lady's ,church1 with all their clergy1 scholars1 and treasurers4 ,twenty persons bore the image of the ,virgin ,mary with the ,lord ,jesus1 adorned in the costliest manner1 to the honour of the ,lord ,god4 ,in this procession very many delightful things were shown1 most splendidly got up4 ,waggons were drawn along with masques upon ships and other structures4 ,behind them came the company of the ,prophets in their order1 and scenes from the ,new ,testament1 such as the ,annunciation1 the ,three ,holy ,kings riding on great camels and on other rare beasts1 very well arranged2 also how our ,lady fled to ,egypt--very devout--and many other things1 which for shortness ,i omit4 ,at the end came a great ,dragon which ,st4 ,margaret and her maidens led by a girdle2 she was especially beautiful4 ,behind her came ,st4 ,george with his squire1 a very goodly knight in armour4 ,in this host also rode boys and maidens most finely and splendidly dressed in the costumes of many lands1 representing various ,saints4 ,from beginning to end the procession lasted more than two hours before it was gone past our house4 ,and so many things were there that ,i could never write them all in a book1 so ,i let it well alone4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,brussels ,august #bf-,september #c1 #aebj4 ,in the golden chamber in the ,townhall at ,brussels ,i saw the four paintings which the great ,master ,roger van der ,weyden#cb made4 ,and ,i saw out behind the ,king's house at ,brussels the fountains1 labyrinth1 and ,beast-garden#cc2 anything more beautiful and pleasing to me and more like a ,paradise ,i have never seen4 ,erasmus is the name of the little man who wrote out my supplication at ,herr ,jacob de ,bannisis' house4 ,at ,brussels is a very splendid ,townhall1 large1 and covered with beautiful carved stonework1 and it has a noble open tower4 ,i took a portrait at night by candlelight of ,master ,konrad of ,brussels1 who was my host2 ,i drew at the same time ,doctor ,lamparter's son in charcoal1 also the hostess4 ,i saw the things which have been brought to the ,king from the new land of gold 7,mexico71 a sun all of gold a whole fathom broad1 and a moon all of silver of the same size1 also two rooms full of the armour of the people there1 and all manner of wondrous weapons of theirs1 harness and darts1 very strange clothing1 beds1 and all kinds of wonderful objects of human use1 much better worth seeing than prodigies4 ,these things were all so precious that they are valued at #ajj1jjj florins4 ,all the days of my life ,i have seen nothing that rejoiced my heart so much as these things1 for ,i saw amongst them wonderful works of art1 and ,i marvelled at the subtle ,ingenia of men in foreign lands4 ,indeed1 ,i cannot express all that ,i thought there4 ,at ,brussels ,i saw many other beautiful things besides1 and especially ,i saw a fish bone there1 as vast as if it had been built up of squared stones4 ,it was a fathom long and very thick1 it weighs up to #ae cwt41 and its form resembles that drawn here4 ,it stood up behind on the fish's head4 ,i was also in the ,count of ,nassau's house1#cd which is very splendidly built and as beautifully adorned4 ,i have again dined with my ,lords 7of ,nrnberg74 ,when ,i was in the ,nassau house in the chapel there1 ,i saw the good picture#ce that ,master ,hugo van der ,goes painted1 and ,i saw the two fine large halls and the treasures everywhere in the house1 also the great bed wherein fifty men can lie4 ,and ,i saw the great stone which the storm cast down in the field near the ,lord of ,nassau4 ,the house stands high1 and from it there is a most beautiful view1 at which one cannot but wonder3 and ,i do not believe that in all the ,german lands the like of it exists4 ,master ,bernard van ,orley1 the painter1 invited me and prepared so costly a meal that ,i do not think ten fl4 will pay for it4 ,lady ,margaret's ,treasurer 7,jan de ,marnix71 whom ,i drew1 and the ,king's ,steward1 ,jehan de ,metenye by name1 and the ,town-,treasurer named ,van ,busleyden invited themselves to it1 to get me good company4 ,i gave ,master ,bernard a ,passion engraved in copper1 and he gave me in return a black ,spanish bag worth three fl4 ,i have also given ,erasmus of ,rotterdam a ,passion engraved in copper4 ,i have once more taken ,erasmus of ,rotterdam's portrait#cf ,i gave ,lorenz ,sterk a sitting ,jerome and the ,melancholy1 and took a portrait of my hostess' godmother4 ,six people whose portraits ,i drew at ,brussels have given me nothing4 ,i paid three st4 for two buffalo horns1 and one st4 for two ,eulenspiegels4#cg ,,antwerp1 ,september #f-,october #d1 #aebj4 ,i have paid one st for the printed ,entry into ,antwerp1 telling how the ,king was received with a splendid triumph--the gates very costly adorned--and with plays1 great joy1 and graceful maidens whose like ,i have seldom seen4#ch ,i changed one fl4 for expenses4 ,i saw at ,antwerp the bones of the giant4 ,his leg above the knee is #e-a_/b ft4 long and beyond measure heavy and very thick2 so with his shoulder blades--a single one is broader than a strong man's back--and his other limbs4 ,the man was #ah ft4 high1 had ruled at ,antwerp and done wondrous great feats1 as is more fully written about him in an old book1#ci which the ,lords of the ,town possess4 ,illustration3 ,,erasmus ,from a reproduction of the drawing in the ,lon ,bonnat collection1 ,bayonne ,face p4 #adh ,the studio 7school7 of ,raphael of ,urbino has quite broken up since his death1#dj but one of his scholars1 ,tommaso ,vincidor of ,bologna#da by name1 a good painter1 desired to see me4 ,so he came to me and has given me an antique gold ring with a very well cut stone4 ,it is worth five fl41 but already ,i have been offered the double for it4 ,i gave him six fl4 worth of my best prints for it4 ,i bought a piece of calico for three st42 ,i paid the messenger one st42 three st4 ,i spent in company4 ,i have presented a whole set of all my works to ,lady ,margaret1 the ,emperor's daughter1 and have drawn her two pictures on parchment with the greatest pains and care4 ,all this ,i set at as much as thirty fl4 ,and ,i have had to draw the design of a house for her physician the doctor1 according to which he intends to build one2 and for drawing that ,i would not care to take less than ten fl4 ,i have given the servant one st41 and paid one st4 for brick-colour4 99 99 99 99 99 ,october #a4--,on ,monday after ,michaelmas1 #aebj1 ,i gave ,thomas of ,bologna a whole set of prints to send for me to ,rome to another painter who should send me ,raphael's work#db in return4 ,i dined once with my wife4 ,i paid three st4 for the little tracts4 ,the ,bolognese has made my portrait2#dc he means to take it with him to ,rome4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,aachen1 ,october #g-bf1 #aebj4 ,october #g4--;,at ,aachen ,i saw the well-proportioned pillars1#dd with their good capitals of green and red porphyry 7,gassenstein7 which ,charles the ,great had brought from ,rome thither and there set up4 ,they are correctly made according to ,vitruvius' writings4 ,october #bc4--,on ,october #bc ,king ,karl was crowned at ,aachen4 ,there ,i saw all manner of lordly splendour1 more magnificent than anything that those who live in our parts have seen--all1 as it has been described4 99 99 99 99 99 ,k,,ln1 ,october #bf--,november #ad1 #aebj4 ,i bought a tract of ,luther's for five white pf41 and the ,condemnation of ,luther1 the pious man1 for one white pf42 also a rosary for one white pf4 and a girdle for two white pf41 a pound of candles for one white pf4 ,november #ab4--;,i have made the nun's portrait4 ,i gave the nun seven white pf4 and three half-sheet engravings4 ,my confirmation#de from the ,emperor came to my ,lords of ,nrnberg for me on ,monday after ,martin's1 in the year #aebj1 after great trouble and labour4 ,,antwerp1 ,november --,december #c1 #aebj4 ,at ,zierikzee1 in ,zeeland1 a whale has been stranded by a high tide and a gale of wind4 ,it is much more than #ajj fathoms long1 and no man living in ,zeeland has seen one even a third as long as this is4 ,the fish cannot get off the land2 the people would gladly see it gone1 as they fear the great stink1 for it is so large that they say it could not be cut in pieces and the blubber boiled down in half a year4 ,,zeeland1 ,december #c-ad1 #aebj4 ,december #h4--;,i went to ,middelburg4 ,there1 in the ,abbey1 is a great picture painted by ,jan de ,mabuse--not so good in the modelling 7,hauptstreichen7 as in the colouring4 ,i went next to the ,veere1 where lie ships from all lands2 it is a very fine little town4 ,at ,arnemuiden1 where ,i landed before1 a great misfortune befel me4 ,as we were pushing ashore and getting out our rope1 a great ship bumped hard against us1 as we were in the act of landing1 and in the crush ,i had let every one get out before me1 so that only ,i1 ,georg ,kotzler1#df two old wives1 and the skipper with a small boy were left in the ship4 ,when now the other ship bumped against us1 and ,i with those named was still in the ship and could not get out1 the strong rope broke2 and thereupon1 in the same moment1 a storm of wind arose1 which drove our ship back with force4 ,then we all cried for help1 but no one would risk himself for us4 ,and the wind carried us away out to sea4 ,thereupon the skipper tore his hair and cried aloud1 for all his men had landed and the ship was unmanned4 ,then were we in fear and danger1 for the wind was strong and only six persons in the ship4 ,so ,i spoke to the skipper that he should take courage 7er sollt ein ,herz fahen7 and have hope in ,god1 and that he should consider what was to be done4 ,so he said that if he could haul up the small sail he would try if we could come again to land4 ,so we toiled all together and got it feebly about half-way up1 and went on again towards the land4 ,and when the people on shore1 who had already given us up1 saw how we helped ourselves1 they came to our aid and we got to land4 ,middelburg is a good town2 it has a very beautiful ,townhall with a fine tower4 ,there is much art shown in all things here4 ,in the ,abbey the stalls are very costly and beautiful1 and there is a splendid gallery of stone2 and there is a fine ,parish ,church4 ,the town was besides excellent for sketching 7kstlich au konterfeyen74 ,zeeland is fine and wonderful to see because of the water1 for it stands higher than the land4 ,i made a portrait of my host at ,arnemuiden4 ,master ,hugo and ,alexander ,imhof and ,friedrich the ,hirschvogels' servant gave me1 each of them1 an ,indian cocoa-nut which they had won at play1 and the host gave me a sprouting bulb4 ,december #i--;,early on ,monday we started again by ship and went by the ,veere and ,zierikzee and tried to get sight of the great fish1#dg but the tide had carried him off again4 ,,antwerp1 ,december #ad--;,april #f1 #aeba ,i have eaten alone thus often4 ,i took portraits of ,gerhard ,bombelli and the daughter of ,sebastian the ,procurator4 ,february #aj4--,on ,carnival ,sunday the goldsmiths invited me to dinner early with my wife4 ,amongst their assembled guests were many notable men4 ,they had prepared a most splendid meal1 and did me exceeding great honour4 ,and in the evening the old ,bailiff of the town#dh invited me and gave a splendid meal1 and did me great honour4 ,many strange masquers came there4 ,i have drawn the portrait in charcoal of ,florent ,nepotis1 ,lady ,margaret's organist4 ,on ,monday night ,herr ,lopez invited me to the great banquet on ,shrove-,tuesday1 which lasted till two o'clock1 and was very costly4 ,herr ,lorenz ,sterk gave me a ,spanish fur4 ,to the above-mentioned feast very many came in costly masks1 and especially ,tomasin and ,brandan4 ,i won two fl4 at play4 ,i dined once with the ,frenchman1 twice with the ,hirschvogels' ,fritz1 and once with ,master ,peter ,aegidius#di the ,secretary1 when ,erasmus of ,rotterdam also dined with us4 ,i have twice more drawn with the metal-point the portrait of the beautiful maiden for ,gerhard4 ,i made ,tomasin a design1 drawn and tinted in half colours1 after which he intends to have his house painted4 ,i bought the five silk girdles1 which ,i mean to give away1 for three fl4 sixteen st42 also a border 7,borte7 for twenty st4 ,these six borders ,i sent to the wives of ,caspar ,ntzel1 ,hans ,imhof1 ,strub1 the two ,spenglers1 and ,lffelholz1#ej and to each a good pair of gloves4 ,to ,pirkheimer ,i sent a large cap1 a costly inkstand of buffalo horn1 a silver ,emperor1 one pound of pistachios1 and three sugar canes4 ,to ,caspar ,ntzel ,i sent a great elk's foot1 ten large fir cones1 and cones of the stone-pine4 ,to ,jacob ,muffel ,i sent a scarlet breastcloth of one ell2 to ,hans ,imhof's child an embroidered scarlet cap and stone-pine nuts2 to ,kramer's wife four ells of silk worth four fl42 to ,lochinger's wife one ell of silk worth one fl42 to the two ,spenglers a bag and three fine horns each2 to ,herr ,hieronymus ,holzschuher a very large horn4 ,,bruges ,,and ,,ghent1 ,april #f-aa1 #aeba4 ,i saw the chapel#ea there which ,roger painted1 and some pictures by a great old master4 ,i gave one st4 to the man who showed us them4 ,then ,i bought three ivory combs for thirty st4 ,they took me next to ,st4 ,jacob's and showed me the precious pictures by ,roger and ,hugo1#eb who were both great masters4 ,then ,i saw in our ,lady's ,church the alabaster#ec ,madonna1 sculptured by ,michael ,angelo of ,rome4 ,after that they took me to many more churches and showed me all the good pictures1 of which there is an abundance there2 and when ,i had seen the ,jan van ,eyck#ed and all the other works1 we came at last to the painters' chapel1 in which there are good things4 ,then they prepared a banquet for me1 and ,i went with them from it to their guild-hall1 where many honourable men were gathered together1 both goldsmiths1 painters and merchants1 and they made me sup with them4 ,they gave me presents1 sought to make my acquaintance1 and did me great honour4 ,the two brothers1 ,jacob and ,peter ,mostaert1 the councillors1 gave me twelve cans of wine2 and the whole assembly1 more than sixty persons1 accompanied me home with many torches4 ,i also saw at their shooting court the great fish-tub on which they eat2 it is #ai feet long1 #g feet high1 and #g feet wide4 ,so early on ,tuesday we went away1 but before that ,i drew with the metal-point the portrait of ,jan ,prost1 and gave his wife ten st4 at parting4 99 99 99 99 99 ,on my arrival at ,ghent the ,dean of the ,painters came to me and brought with him the first masters in painting2 they showed me great honour1 received me most courteously1 offered me their goodwill and service1 and supped with me4 ,on ,wednesday they took me early to the ,belfry of ,st4 ,john1 whence ,i looked over the great wonderful town1 yet in which even ,i had just been taken for something great4 ,then ,i saw ,jan van ,eycks picture2#ee it is a most precious painting1 full of thought 7ein berkstlich hochverstndig ,gemhl71 and the ,eve1 ,mary1 and ,god the ,father are specially good4 ,next ,i saw the lions and drew one with the metal-point4#ef ,and ,i saw at the place where men are beheaded on the bridge1 the two statues erected 7in #acga7 as a sign that there a son beheaded his father4#eg ,ghent is a fine and remarkable town2 four great waters flow through it4 ,i gave the sacristan 7at ,st4 ,bavon's7 and the lions' keepers three st4 trinkgeld4 ,i saw many wonderful things in ,ghent besides1 and the painters with their ,dean did not leave me alone1 but they ate with me morning and evening and paid for everything1 and were very friendly to me4 ,i gave away five st4 at the inn at leaving4 ,,antwerp1 ,april #aa-,may #ag1 #aeba4 ,in the third week after ,easter 7,april #ba-bg7 a violent fever seized me1 with great weakness1 nausea1 and headache4 ,and before1 when ,i was in ,zeeland1 a wondrous sickness overcame me1 such as ,i never heard of from any man1 and this sickness remains with me4 ,i paid six st4 for cases4 ,the monk has bound two books for me in return for the art-wares which ,i gave him4 ,i bought a piece of arras to make two mantles for my mother-in-law and my wife1 for ten fl4 eight st4 ,i paid the doctor eight st41 and three st4 to the apothecary4 ,i also changed one fl4 for expenses1 and spent three st4 in company4 ,paid the doctor ten st4 ,i again paid the doctor six st4 ,during my illness ,rodrigo has sent me many sweetmeats4 ,i gave the lad four st4 trinkgeld4 ,illustration3 ,drawing in silver-point on prepared ground1 from the ,netherlands sketch-book1 in the ,imperial ,library1 ,vienna ,on ,friday 7,may #ag7 before ,whit ,sunday in the year #aeba1 came tidings to me at ,antwerp1 that ,martin ,luther had been so treacherously taken prisoner2 for he trusted the ,emperor ,karl1 who had granted him his herald and imperial safe conduct4 ,but as soon as the herald had conveyed him to an unfriendly place near ,eisenach he rode away1 saying that he no longer needed him4 ,straightway there appeared ten knights1 and they treacherously carried off the pious man1 betrayed into their hands1 a man enlightened by the ,holy ,ghost1 a follower of the true ,christian faith4 ,and whether he yet lives ,i know not1 or whether they have put him to death2 if so1 he has suffered for the truth of ,christ and because he rebuked the unchristian ,papacy1 which strives with its heavy load of human laws against the redemption of ,christ4 ,and if he has suffered it is that we may again be robbed and stripped of the truth of our blood and sweat1 that the same may be shamefully and scandalously squandered by idle-going folk1 while the poor and the sick therefore die of hunger4 ,but this is above all most grievous to me1 that1 may be1 ,god will suffer us to remain still longer under their false1 blind doctrine1 invented and drawn up by the men alone whom they call ,fathers1 by whom also the precious ,word of ,god is in many places wrongly expounded or utterly ignored4 ,oh ,god of heaven1 pity us6 ,oh ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 pray for ,thy people6 ,deliver us at the fit time4 ,call together ,thy far-scattered sheep by ,thy voice in the ,scripture1 called ,thy godly ,word4 ,help us to know this ,thy voice and to follow no other deceiving cry of human error1 so that we1 ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 may not fall away from ,thee4 ,call together again the sheep of ,thy pasture1 who are still in part found in the ,roman ,church1 and with them also the ,indians1 ,muscovites1 ,russians1 and ,greeks1 who have been scattered by the oppression and avarice of the ,pope and by false appearance of holiness4 ,oh ,god1 redeem ,thy poor people constrained by heavy ban and edict1 which it nowise willingly obeys1 continually to sin against its conscience if it disobeys them4 ,never1 oh ,god1 hast ,thou so horribly burdened a people with human laws as us poor folk under the ,roman ,chair1 who daily long to be free ,christians1 ransomed by ,thy blood4 ,oh highest1 heavenly ,father1 pour into our hearts1 through ,thy ,son1 ,jesus ,christ1 such a light1 that by it we may know what messenger we are bound to obey1 so that with good conscience we may lay aside the burdens of others and serve ,thee1 eternal1 heavenly ,father1 with happy and joyful hearts4 ,and if we have lost this man1 who has written more clearly than any that has lived for #adj years1 and to whom ,thou hast given such a spirit of the ,gospel1 we pray ,thee1 oh heavenly ,father1 that ,thou wouldst again give ,thy ,holy ,spirit to one1 that he may gather anew everywhere together ,thy ,holy ,christian ,church1 that we may again live free and in ,christian manner1 and so1 by our good works1 all unbelievers1 as ,turks1 ,heathen1 and ,calicuts1 may of themselves turn to us and embrace the ,christian faith4 ,but1 ere ,thou judgest1 oh ,lord1 ,thou wiliest that1 as ,thy ,son1 ,jesus ,christ1 was fain to die by the hands of the priests1 and to rise from the dead and after to ascend up to heaven1 so too in like manner it should be with ,thy follower ,martin ,luther1 whose life the ,pope compasseth with his money1 treacherously towards ,god4 ,him wilt thou quicken again4 ,and as ,thou1 oh my ,lord1 ordainedst thereafter that ,jerusalem should for that sin be destroyed1 so wilt thou also destroy this self-assumed authority of the ,roman ,chair4 ,oh ,lord1 give us then the new beautified ,jerusalem1 which descendeth out of heaven1 whereof the ,apocalypse writes1 the holy1 pure ,gospel1 which is not obscured by human doctrine4 ,every man who reads ,martin ,luther's books may see how clear and transparent is his doctrine1 because he sets forth the holy ,gospel4 ,wherefore his books are to be held in great honour1 and not to be burnt2 unless indeed his adversaries1 who ever strive against the truth and would make gods out of men1 were also cast into the fire1 they and all their opinions with them1 and afterwards a new edition of ,luther's works were prepared4 ,oh ,god1 if ,luther be dead1 who will henceforth expound to us the holy ,gospel with such clearness8 ,what1 oh ,god1 might he not still have written for us in ten or twenty years6 ,oh all ye pious ,christian men1 help me deeply to bewail this man1 inspired of ,god1 and to pray ,him yet again to send us an enlightened man4 ,oh ,erasmus of ,rotterdam1 where wilt thou stop8 ,behold how the wicked tyranny of worldly power1 the might of darkness1 prevails4 ,hear1 thou knight of ,christ6 ,ride on by the side of the ,lord ,jesus4 ,guard the truth4 ,attain the martyr's crown4 ,already indeed art thou an aged little man 7ein altes ,mnniken71 and myself have heard thee say that thou givest thyself but two years more wherein thou mayest still be fit to accomplish somewhat4 ,lay out the same well for the good of the ,gospel and of the true ,christian faith1 and make thyself heard4 ,so1 as ,christ says1 shall the ,gates of ,hell 7the ,roman ,chair7 in no wise prevail against thee4 ,and if here below thou wert to be like thy master ,christ and sufferedst infamy at the hands of the liars of this time1 and didst die a little the sooner1 then wouldst thou the sooner pass from death unto life and be glorified in ,christ4 ,for if thou drinkest of the cup which ,he drank of1 with ,him shalt thou reign and judge with justice those who have dealt unrighteously4 ,oh ,erasmus1 cleave to this that ,god ,himself may be thy praise1 even as it is written of ,david4 ,for thou mayest1 yea verily thou mayest overthrow ,goliath4 ,because ,god stands by the ,holy ,christian ,church1 even as ,he only upholds the ,roman ,church1 according to ,his godly will4 ,may ,he help us to everlasting salvation1 who is ,god1 the ,father1 the ,son1 and ,holy ,ghost1 one eternal ,god4 ,amen4 ,oh ye ,christian men1 pray ,god for help1 for ,his judgment draweth nigh and ,his justice shall appear4 ,then shall we behold the innocent blood which the ,pope1 ,priests1 ,bishops1 and ,monks have shed1 judged and condemned 7,apocal474 ,these are the slain who lie beneath the ,altar of ,god and cry for vengeance1 to whom the voice of ,god answereth3 ,await the full number of the innocent slain1 then will ,i judge4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,antwerp1 ,may #ag--;,june #g1 #aeba4 ,master ,gerhard1#eh the illuminator1 has a daughter about eighteen years old named ,susanna4 ,she has illuminated a ,salvator on a little sheet1 for which ,i gave her one fl4 ,it is very wonderful that a woman can do so much4 ,i lost six st4 at play4 ,i saw the great ,procession at ,antwerp on ,holy ,trinity day4 ,master ,konrad gave me a fine pair of knives1 so ,i gave his little old man a ,life of our ,lady in return4 ,i have made a portrait in charcoal of ,master ,jan1#ei goldsmith of ,brussels1 also one of his wife4 ,i have been paid two fl4 for prints4 ,master ,jan1 the ,brussels goldsmith1 paid me three ,philips fl4 for what ,i did for him1 the drawing for the seal and the two portraits4 ,i gave the ,veronica1 which ,i painted in oils1 and the ,adam and ,eve which ,franz did1 to ,jan1 the goldsmith1 in exchange for a jacinth and an agate1 on which a ,lucretia is engraved4 ,each of us valued his portion at fourteen fl4 ,further1 ,i gave him a whole set of engravings for a ring and six stones4 ,each valued his portion at seven fl4 ,i bought two pairs of shoes for fourteen st41 and two small boxes for two st4 ,i changed two ,philips fl4 for expenses4 ,i drew three ,leadings-forth#fj and two ,mounts of ,olives on five half-sheets4 ,i took three portraits in black and white on grey paper4 ,i also sketched in black and white on grey paper two ,netherland costumes4 ,i painted for the ,englishman his coat of arms1 and he gave me one fl4 ,i have also at one time and another done many drawings and other things to serve different people1 and for the more part of my work have received nothing4 ,andreas of ,krakau paid me one ,philips fl4 for a shield and a child's head4 ,changed one il4 for expenses4 ,i paid two fl4 for sweeping-brushes4 ,i saw the great procession at ,antwerp on ,corpus ,christi day2 it was very splendid4 ,i gave four st4 as trinkgeld4 ,i paid the doctor six st4 and one st4 for a box4 ,i have dined five times with ,tomasin4 ,i paid ten st4 at the apothecary's1 and gave his wife fourteen st4 for the clyster and himself4444 ,to the monk who confessed my wife ,i gave eight st4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,mechlin1 ,june #g and #h1 #aeba4 99 99 99 99 99 ,at ,mechlin ,i lodged with ,master ,heinrich1 the painter1 at the sign of the ,golden ,head4#fa ,and the painters and sculptors bade me as guest at my inn and did me great honour in their gathering4 ,i went also to ,poppenreuter#fb the gunmaker's house1 and found wonderful things there4 ,and ,i went to ,lady ,margaret's and showed her my ,emperor1#fc and would have presented it to her1 but she so disliked it that ,i took it away with me4 ,and on ,friday ,lady ,margaret showed me all her beautiful things4 ,amongst them ,i saw about forty small oil pictures1 the like of which for precision and excellence ,i have never beheld4 ,there also ,i saw more good works by ,jan 7de ,mabuse71 and ,jacob ,walch4#fd ,i asked my ,lady for ,jacob's little book1 but she said she had already promised it to her painter4#fe ,then ,i saw many other costly things and a precious library4#ff ,,antwerp1 ,june #h--;,july #c1 #aeba4 ,master ,lukas1 who engraves in copper1 asked me as his guest4 ,he is a little man1 born at ,leyden in ,holland2 he was at ,antwerp4 ,i have drawn with the metal-point the portrait of ,master ,lukas van ,leyden4#fg ,the man with the three rings has overreached me by half4 ,i did not understand the matter4 ,i bought a red cap for my god-child#fh;for eighteen st4 ,lost twelve st4 at play4 ,drank two st4 ,cornelius ,grapheus1 the ,secretary1 gave me ,luther's ,babylonian ,captivity1#fi in return for which ,i gave him my three ,large ,books4 ,illustration3 ,,lucas ,,van ,,der ,,leyden ,drawing in charcoal formerly in the collection at ,warwick ,castle4 ,i reckoned up with ,jobst and found myself thirty-one fl4 in his debt1 which ,i paid him2 therein were charged and deducted the two portrait heads which ,i painted in oils1 for which he gave five pounds of borax ,netherlands weight4 ,in all my doings1 spendings1 sales1 and other dealings1 in all my connections with high and low1 ,i have suffered loss in the ,netherlands2 and ,lady ,margaret in particular gave me nothing for what ,i made and presented to her4 ,and this settlement with ,jobst was made on ,st4 ,peter and ,paul's day4 ,on our ,lady's ,visitation1 as ,i was just about to leave ,antwerp1 the ,king of ,denmark sent to me to come to him at once1 and take his portrait1 which ,i did in charcoal4 ,i also did that of his servant ,anton1 and ,i was made to dine with the ,king1 and he behaved graciously towards me4 ,i have entrusted my bale to ,leonhard ,tucher and given over my white cloth to him4 ,the carrier with whom ,i bargained did not take me2 ,i fell out with him4 ,gerhard gave me some ,italian seeds4 ,i gave the new carrier 7,vicarius7 the great turtle shell1 the fish-shield1 the long pipe1 the long weapon1 the fish-fins1 and the two little casks of lemons and capers to take home for me1 on the day of our ,lady's ,visitation1 #aeba4 ,,brussels1 ,july #c-ab1 #aeba4 ,i noticed how the people of ,antwerp marvelled greatly when they saw the ,king of ,denmark1 to find him such a manly1 handsome man and come hither through his enemy's land with only two attendants4 ,i saw1 too1 how the ,emperor rode forth from ,brussels to meet him1 and received him honourably with great pomp4 ,then ,i saw the noble1 costly banquet1 which the ,emperor and ,lady ,margaret held next day in his honour4 ,thomas ,bologna has given me an ,italian work of art2 ,i have also bought a work for one st4 ,a few days later when the ,drers arrived at ,cologne the journal breaks off abruptly1 as the last few leaves are missing3 but there is every reason to suppose that they got back safely to ,nuremberg two or three weeks later4 ,,ii ,this journal shows us how the influence of a greater centre of civilisation strengthened the spirit of the ,renascence in ,drer3 it is marked by his having again taken up the paint brushes to do the best sort of work1 by a new out-break of the collector's acquisitiveness1 lastly by the tone of such a passage as that wherein the procession on the ,sunday after our ,lady's ,assumption 7p4 #ade7 is spoken of with admiration4 ,twenty persons bore the image of the ,virgin ,mary with the ,lord ,jesus1 adorned in the costliest manner1 to the honour of the ,lord ,god4 ,such a spectacle has a very different significance to his mind from that of another procession in honour of the ,virgin1 depicted in a woodcut by ,michael ,ostendorfer1 which presents a large space in front of a temporary church2 in the midst is a gaudy statue of the ,virgin set upon a pillar1 around whose base seven or eight persons of both sexes1 whom one might suppose from their attitudes to be drunk1 are seen writhing1 while a procession headed by huge cierges and a cardinal's hat on a pole encircles the whole building2 those in the procession carrying offerings or else candles1 two men being naked save for scanty hair shirts4 ,on the margin of the copy now at ,coburg ,drer has written3 #aebc1 this ,spectre1 contrary to ,holy ,scripture1 has set itself up at ,regensburg and has been dressed out by the ,bishop4 ,god help us that we should not so dishonour ,his precious mother but 7honour her87 in ,christ ,jesus4 ,amen4 ,indeed1 it would be difficult to distinguish between the kind of honour done the ,virgin in many of ,drer's pictures and etchings and that done her in the ,antwerp procession2 but both are infinitely removed from the degradation of emotion produced by an orgy of superstition such as that depicted in ,ostendorfer's print1 which is truly nearer akin to the scenes that occasionally occur in ,salvation ,army or ,methodist revivals1 and is even more repugnant to the spirit of the ,renascence than to that of the ,reformation as ,luther and ,drer conceived of it4 ,it is well to remind ourselves1 by reading such a passage and by gazing at ,drer's ,virgins enthroned and crowned with stars1 that the attitude of later ,protestants in regard to the worship of the ,virgin was in no sense shared by ,drer4 ,and we touch the very pulse of the ,renaissance in the phrase1 ,being a painter1 ,i looked about me a little more boldly1--by which ,drer explains that the beautiful maidens1 almost naked1 who figured in the mythological groups along the route of ,charles ,v4's triumphal entry into ,antwerp received a very different reward1 in his attentive gaze1 to that which was meted to them by the young1 austere1 and unreformed ,charles4 ,one might almost be listening to ,vasari when ,drer says3 ,i saw out behind the ,king's house at ,brussels the fountains1 labyrinth and ,beast-garden2 anything more beautiful and pleasing to me and more like ,paradise ,i have never seen4 ,drer's admiration for ,luther was like ,michael ,angelo's for ,savonarola1 and he never doubted that fiery indignation was directed against the abuse of wealth1 force1 and beauty1 not against their use2 though perhaps both the ,italian and the ,german reformer occasionally confused the two4 ,,iii ,duress journey was successful in that he obtained from ,charles ,v4 what he sought--the confirmation of his privilegium4 ,,charles1 by ,god's grace1 ,roman ,emperor ,elect1 etc4 ,honourable1 trusty1 and well-beloved1 ,whereas the most illustrious ,prince1 ,emperor ,maximilian1 our dear lord and grandfather of praiseworthy memory1 appointed and assigned unto our and the ,empire's trusty and well-beloved ,albrecht ,drer the sum of #ajj florins ,rhenish every year of his life to be paid from and out of our and the ,empire's customary town contributions1 which you are bound to render yearly into our ,imperial ,treasury2 and whereas we1 as ,roman ,emperor1 have graciously agreed thereto1 and have granted anew this life pension unto him according to the terms of the above letter2 we therefore earnestly command you1 and it is our will1 that you render and give unto the said ,albrecht ,drer henceforward every year of his life1 from and out of the said town contributions and in return for his proper quittance1 the said life pension of #ajj florins ,rhenish1 together with whatever part of it stands over unpaid since the ,emperor ,maximilian's grant2 etc4 ,given at our and the ,holy ,empire's town ,kln on the fourth day of the month ,november 7#aebj71 etc4 7,signed7 ,,karl4 7,signed7 ,,albrecht1 ,cardinal1 ,archbishop of ,mainz1 ,chancellor4 ,besides1 he got back to ,nuremberg without falling in with highwaymen1 though the following little letter shows us that in this he was fortunate4 ,dear ,master ,wolf ,stromer1--,my most gracious lord of ,salzburg has sent me a letter by the hand of his glass-painter4 ,i shall be glad to do anything ,i can to help him4 ,he is to buy glass and materials here4 ,he tells me that near ,freistadtlein he was robbed and had twenty florins taken from him4 ,he has asked me to send him to you1 for his gracious lord told him if he wanted anything to let you know4 ,i send him1 therefore1 to your ,wisdom with my apprentice4 ,your ,wisdom's1 ,,albrecht ,d,,rer4 ,no doubt he had enriched his mind and cheered his heart in the company of prosperous1 go-ahead1 and earnest men2 but as he says1 when ,i was in ,zeeland1 a wondrous sickness overcame me1 such as ,i never heard of from any man1 and this sickness remains with me 7see p4 #aef74 ,and1 alas6 it was to remain with him till he died of it4 ,so that his journey cannot be considered as altogether fortunate4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #bd3 ,he was one of the leading ,humanists of the time4 ,the ,madonna referred to was still at ,bamberg1 at the beginning of the present century4 ,footnote #be3 ,owing to the existence of some rudimentary form of ,zollverein1 ,drer's pass not only freed him of dues in the ,bamberg district but as far down the ,rhine as ,kln4 ,footnote #bf3 ,hans ,wolf1 successor to ,hans ,wolfgang ,katzheimer4 ,footnote #bg3 ,there is a portrait drawing of ,jobst ,plankfelt by ,drer in the ,stdel collection at ,frankfurt4 ,footnote #bh3 ,that is the head of the ,fuggers' branch house at ,antwerp4 ,footnote #bi3 ,erasmus of ,rotterdam1 the famous ,humanist4 ,footnote #cj3 ,holbein also painted a portrait of this man in #aebh4 ,the picture is in the ,louvre4 ,footnote #ca3 ,a pen-and-ink likeness of him by ,drer is in the possession of the painter ,bendemann1 of ,dsseldorf4 ,it bears the inscription in ,drer's hand1 #aebj4 ,hans ,pfaffroth van ,dantzgen ein ,starkmann4 ,footnote #cb3 ,these were four pictures painted upon linen4 ,they represented ,the justice of ,trajan1 ,pope ,gregory praying for the ,heathen1 and two incidents in the story of ,erkenbald4 ,the pictures were burnt in #afie1 but their compositions are reproduced in the well-known ,burgundian tapestries at ,bern4 ,see ,pinchart1 in the ,bulletins de l',academie de ,bruxelles1 #bnd ,series1 ,,xvii43 also ,kinkel1 ,die brusseler ,rathhausbilder1 c41 ,zurich1 #ahfg4 ,footnote #cc3 ,a rapid sketch made by ,drer in this place is in the ,academy at ,vienna4 ,it is dated #aebj1 and inscribed1 that is the pleasure and beast-garden at ,brussels1 seen down behind out of the ,palace4 ,footnote #cd3 ,a reproduction of an old view of this house will be found in ,l',art1 #ahhd1 ,i4 p4 #ahh4 ,footnote #ce3 ,this picture was painted on four panels and represented the ,seven ,sacraments and a ,crucifix4 ,it is now lost4 ,a similar picture is in the ,antwerp ,gallery1 ascribed to ,roger van der ,weyden4 ,footnote #cf3 ,this is perhaps the drawing in the ,bounat collection at ,paris2 it has been photographed by ,braun 7see illus4 opposite74 ,footnote #cg3 ,it is believed that ,drer here refers to an edition of the satirical tale edited by ,thomas ,murner1 and published at ,strassburg in #aeai4 ,footnote #ch3 ,he afterwards particularly described to ,melanchthon the splendid spectacles he had beheld1 and how in what were plainly mythological groups1 the most beautiful maidens figured almost naked1 and covered only with a thin transparent veil4 ,the young ,emperor did not hocour them with a single glance1 but ,drer himself was very glad to get near1 not less for the purpose of seeing the tableaux than to have the opportunity of observing closely the perfect figures of the young girls4 ,as he himself says1 ,being a painter1 ,i looked about me a little more boldly4--,see ,thausing's ,life of ,drer1 vol4 ii41 p4 #aha4 ,footnote #ci3 ,het oud register van diversche mandementen1 a fifteenth-century folio manuscript1 still preserved in the ,antwerp archives4 ,footnote #dj3 ,on ,april #f1 #aebj4 ,footnote #da3 ,tommaso was sent to ,flanders in #aebj by ,pope ,leo ,x4 to oversee the manufacture of the second series of tapestries4 ,the painter does not seem to have returned to ,italy4 ,footnote #db3 ,engravings by ,marcantonio from ,raphael's designs4 ,footnote #dc3 ,the picture is lost1 but an engraving of it made by ,and4 ,stock in #afbi is well-known4 ,footnote #dd3 ,the fine monoliths brought from ,ravenna and still to be seen in ,aachen ,cathedral4 ,footnote #de3 ,the confirmation of his pension2 see p4 #aff4 ,footnote #df3 ,member of a ,nrnberg family4 ,footnote #dg3 ,the object of the whole expedition was doubtless1 that ,drer might see and sketch the whale4 ,in the ,british ,museum is a study of a walrus by ,drer1 dated #aeba1 and inscribed1 ,the animal whose head ,i have drawn here was taken in the ,netherlandish sea1 and was twelve ,brabant ells long and had four feet4 ,footnote #dh3 ,gerhard van de ,werve4 ,footnote #di3 ,pupil and afterwards friend of ,erasmus4 ,footnote #ej3 ,these people were ,drer's principal ,nrnberg friends4 ,footnote #ea3 ,it is assumed by commentators that ,chapel means ,altar-piece1 and it is guessed that the particular altar-piece is the one in the ,berlin ,museum which ,charles ,v4 is reported to have carried about with him1 and which belonged to the ,miraflores ,convent4 ,the guesses are worthless4 ,footnote #eb3 ,in ,st4 ,jacob's was the ,entombment by ,hugo van der ,goes4 ,footnote #ec3 ,it is in white marble4 ,it was sculpted about #aeja-f4 ,some critics have refused to accept it as a genuine work4 ,drer ought to have been in a position to know the truth4 ,footnote #ed3 ,at this time there were plenty of his pictures at ,bruges4 ,drer doubtless saw his ,madonna in ,st4 ,donatien's1 now in the ,academy of the same town4 ,footnote #ee3 ,the famous altar-piece painted by ,hubert and ,jan van ,eyck1 of which the central part is still in its original place and the wings are divided1 two of their panels being at ,brussels and the rest at ,berlin4 ,footnote #ef3 ,this drawing from ,drer's sketch-book is in the ,court ,library at ,vienna 7see pl4 opposite74 ,footnote #eg3 ,the story is recounted in ,flandria illustrata 7,a4 ,sanderi1 ,colon41 #afda1 i4 #adi47 ,footnote #eh3 ,gerhard ,horeboul of ,ghent4 ,charles ,v4's ',book of ,hours' in the ,vienna library is his work4 ,he also had a hand in the ,grimani ,breviary4 ,after #aeba he went to ,england and entered the service of ,henry ,,viii4 ,his daughter ,susanna was likewise in the service of the ,english ,king4 ,she married and died in ,england4 ,footnote #ei3 ,perhaps ,jan van den ,perre1 afterwards goldsmith to ,charles ,v4 ,footnote #fj3 ,that is to say1 drawings representing ,christ bearing ,,his ,,cross4 ,mount of ,olives means the ,agony in the ,garden4 ,footnote #fa3 ,the inn-keeper of the ,golden ,head is known to have been a painter4 ,his name was ,heinrich ,keldermann4 ,footnote #fb3 ,though born at ,kln1 he was called ,hans von ,nrnberg4 ,he was cannon-founder and gun-maker to ,charles ,v4 ,footnote #fc3 ,doubtless ,drer's portrait of ,maximilian1 now in the ,gallery at ,vienna1 dated #aeai4 7see p4 #bae74 ,footnote #fd3 ,jacopo de' ,barbari4 ,footnote #fe3 ,bernard van ,orley4 ,footnote #ff3 ,the catalogue of this library exists in the inventory of the ,archduchess' possessions4 ,footnote #fg3 ,this is in the ,muse ,wicar at ,lille2 another portrait of ,lukas van ,leyden by ,drer was in the ,earl of ,warwick's collection 7see opposite74 ,footnote #fh3 ,hieronymus ,imhof4 ,footnote #fi3 ,a quarto tract by ,luther1 printed in #aebj 7without place or date71 entitled ,von der ,babylonischen gefenglnuss der ,kirchen4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,d,,rer',s ,,last ,,years ,i ,drer came back home with health broken3 yet it is to this period that the magnificent portraits at ,berlin of ,nuremberg ,councillors belong1 and certainly his hand and eye had never been more sure than when he produced them4 ,the hall of the ,rathhaus was decorated under his direction and from his designs1 the actual painting being1 it is supposed1 chiefly the work of ,george ,penz1 who with his fellow prentices became famous in #aebd as one of the three godless painters4 ,we now come to a letter dated ,n,,rnberg1 ,december #e1 #aebc1 ,sunday after ,andrew's ,my dear and gracious ,master ,frey--,i have received the little book you sent to ,master 7,ulrich7 ,varnbler and me2 when he has finished reading it ,i will read it too4 ,as to the monkey-dance you want me to draw for you1 ,i have drawn this one here1 unskilfully enough1 for it is a long time since ,i saw any monkeys2 so pray put up with it4 ,convey my willing service to ,herr ,zwingli 7the reformer71 ,hans ,leu 7a ,protestant painter71 ,hans ,urich1 and my other good masters4 ,,albrecht ,d,,rer4 ,divide these five little prints amongst you3 ,i have nothing else new4 ,this ,master ,felix ,frey was a reformer at ,zurich3 he was probably not closely related to ,hans ,frey1 ,drer's father-in-law1 whose death is thus recorded in ,drer's book3 ,in the year #aebc 7as they reckon it71 on our dear ,lady's ,day1 when she was offered in the ,temple1 early1 before the morning chimes1 ,hans ,frey1 my dear father-in-law1 passed away4 ,he had lain ill for almost six years and suffered quite incredible adversities in this world4 ,he received the ,sacraments before he died4 ,god ,almighty be gracious to him4 ,next we have letters from and to ,niklas ,kratzer1 ,astronomer to ,henry ,,viii4 ,he had been present when ,drer drew ,erasmus' portrait at ,antwerp4 ,drer had also made a drawing of ,kratzer1 and later on ,holbein was to paint his masterpiece in the ,louvre from the ,oxford professor4 ,to the honourable and accomplished ,albrecht ,drer1 burgher of ,nrnberg1 my dear ,master and ,friend4 ,,london1 ,october #bd1 #aebd4 ,honourable1 dear ,sir1 ,i am very glad to hear of your good health and that of your wife4 ,i have had ,hans ,pomer staying with me in ,england4 ,now that you are all evangelical in ,nrnberg ,i must write to you4 ,god grant you grace to persevere2 the adversaries1 indeed1 are strong1 but ,god is stronger1 and is wont to help the sick who call upon ,him and acknowledge ,him4 ,i want you1 dear ,herr ,albrecht ,drer1 to make a drawing for me of the instrument you saw at ,herr ,pirkheimer's1 wherewith they measure distances both far and wide4 ,you told me about it at ,antwerp4 ,or perhaps ,herr ,pirkheimer would send me the design of it--he would be doing me a great favour4 ,i want also to know how much a set of impressions of all your prints costs1 and whether anything new has come out at ,nrnberg relating to my art4 ,i hear that our friend ,hans1 the astronomer1 is dead4 ,would you write and tell me what instruments and the like he has left1 and also where our ,stabius' prints and wood-blocks are to be found8 ,greet ,herr ,pirkheimer for me4 ,i hope to make him a map of ,england1 which is a great country1 and was unknown to ,ptolemy4 ,he would like to see it4 ,all those who have written about ,england have seen no more than a small part of it4 ,you cannot write to me any longer through ,hans ,pomer4 ,pray send me the woodcut which represents ,stabius as ,s4 ,koloman4#gj;,i have nothing more to say that would interest you1 so ,god bless you4 ,given at ,london1 ,october #bd4 ,your servant1 ,,niklas ,,kratzeh4 ,greet your wife heartily for me4 ,to the honourable and venerable ,herr ,niklas ,kratzer1 servant to his ,royal ,majesty in ,england1 my gracious ,master and ,friend4 ,n,,rnberg1 ,monday after ,barbara's 7,december #e71 #aebd4 ,first my most willing service to you1 dear ,herr ,niklas4 ,i have received and read your letter with pleasure1 and am glad to hear that things are going well with you4 ,i have spoken for you to ,herr ,wilibald ,pirkheimer about the instrument you wanted to have4 ,he is having one made for you1 and is going to send it to you with a letter4 ,the things ,herr ,hans left when he died have all been scattered2 as ,i was away at the time of his death ,i cannot find out where they are gone to4 ,the same has happened to ,stabius' things2 they were all taken to ,austria1 and ,i can tell you no more about them4 ,i should like to know whether you have yet begun to translate ,euclid into ,german1 as you told me1 if you had time1 you would do4 ,we have to stand in disgrace and danger for the sake of the ,christian faith1 for they abuse us as heretics2 but may ,god grant us ,his grace and strengthen us in ,his word1 for we must obey ,him rather than men4 ,it is better to lose life and goods than that ,god should cast us1 body and soul1 into hell-fire4 ,therefore1 may ,he confirm us in that which is good1 and enlighten our adversaries1 poor1 miserable1 blind creatures1 that they may not perish in their errors4 ,now ,god bless you6 ,i send you two likenesses1 printed from copper1 which you will know well4 ,at present ,i have no good news to write you1 but much evil4 ,however1 only ,god's will cometh to pass4 ,your ,wisdom's1 ,,albrecht ,d,,rer4 ,another letter to ,drer from ,cornelius ,grapheus at ,antwerp gives us some help towards understanding how the ,reformation affected ,drer and his friends4 ,to ,master ,albrecht ,drer1 unrivalled chief in the art of painting1 my friend and most beloved brother in ,christ1 at ,nrnberg2 or in his absence to ,wilibald ,pirkheimer4 ,i wrote a good long letter to you1 some time ago1 in the name of our common friend ,thomas ,bombelli1 but we have received no answer from you4 ,we are1 therefore1 the more anxious to hear even three words from you1 that we may know how you are and what is going on in your parts1 for there is no doubt that great events are happening4 ,thomas ,bombelli sends you his heartiest greeting4 ,i beg you1 as ,i did in my last letter1 to greet ,wilibald ,pirkheimer a score of times for me4 ,of my own condition ,i will tell you nothing4 ,the bearers of this letter will be able to acquaint you with everything4 ,they are very good men and most sincere ,christians4 ,i commend1 them to you and my friend ,pirkheimer as if they were myself2 for they1 themselves the best of men1 merit the highest recommendation to the best of men4 ,farewell1 dearest ,albrecht4 ,amongst us there is a great and daily increasing persecution on account of the ,gospel4 ,our brethren1 the bearers1 will tell you all about it more openly4 ,again farewell4 ,wholly yours1 ,,cornelius ,,grapheus4 ,,antwerp1 ,february #bc1 #aebd4 ,,ii ,the events which made ,drer an ardent ,evangelical and ,reformer in a coarser paste proved a leaven of anarchy and subversion4 ,young1 hot-headed nobles like ,ulrich ,von ,hutten became iconoclastic1 were foremost at the dispersion of convents and nunneries1 often playing a part on such occasions that was anything but a credit to the cause they were championing4 ,among the prentice lads and among the peasants1 the unrest1 discontent1 and appetite for change took forms if not more offensive at least more alarming4 ,the ,peasants' ,war gave rulers a foretaste of the panic they were to undergo at the time of the ,french ,revolution4 ,and in the towns men like the three godless painters made the burghers shake in their shoes for the social order which kept them rich and respected and others poor and servile4 ,it is strange that all three should have come from ,drer's workshop4 ,probably they were the most talented prentices of the craft1 since the great master chose them3 besides1 painting was an occupation which allowed of a certain intellectual development4 ,they may have often listened with hungry ears to disputes between ,pirkheimer and ,drer1 and envied the good luck1 grace and gift which had enabled the latter to bridge over a gulf as great as that which separated them from him1 between him and ,pirkheimer or ,vambler4 ,all this and much more we can by taking thought imagine to our satisfaction2 but the point which we would most desire to satisfactorily conjecture we are utterly in the dark about4 ,though his prentices were tried1 ,drer appeared neither for nor against them2 nor can we help ourselves to understand a fact so strange by any other mention of his attitude4 ,he had a year or two previously married his servant1 7perhaps the girl that his wife took with her to the ,netherlands71 to ,georg ,penz1 who went the farthest in his scepticism1 recanted soonest1 and possessed least talent of the three4 ,but this fact1 which is not quite assured1 narrows the grounds of conjecture but little2 we still face an almost boundless blank4 ,it is difficult to imagine that ,drer was quite as shocked as the ,town ,council by a man who said he had some idea that there was a ,god1 but did not know rightly what conception to form of him1 who was so unfortunate as to think nothing of ,christ1 and could not believe in the ,holy ,gospel or in the word of ,god2 and who failed to recognise a master of himself1 his goods and everything belonging to him in the ,council of ,nuremberg4 ,now-a-days1 when we think of the licence of assertion that has obtained on these questions1 we are inclined to admire the honesty and intellectual clarity of such a confession4 ,and ,drer1 who resolved the similar question of authority as to things beautiful in a manner much the same as this1 may1 we can at least hope1 have viewed his prentices with more of pity than of anger4 ,all the three godless painters were banished from reformed ,nuremberg2 but ,georg1 whose confession had been most godless1 recanted and was allowed to return4 ,the others1 ,sebald and ,barthel ,beham1 managed to perpetuate their names as little masters without the approbation of the ,town ,councillors1 and are to-day less forgotten than those who condemned them4 ,hieronymus ,andreae1 the most skilful and famous of ,drer's wood engravers1 caused the ,council the same kind of alarm and concern4 ,he took part with the peasants in their rebellion2 but rebellion against a known authority was more pardonable than that against the unknown1 or else his services were of greater value4 ,at any rate he was pardoned not once but many times1 being apparently an obstreperous character4 ,,iii ,if we can form no conjecture as to ,drer's relations with his heretical aids1 we have evidence as to his relations with their judges2 for in #aebd he wrote to the ,town ,council thus3 ,prudent1 honourable and wise1 most gracious ,masters1--,during long years1 by hardworking pains and labour under ,gods blessing1 ,i have saved out of my earnings as much as #ajjj florins ,rhenish1 which ,i should now be glad to invest for my support4 ,i know1 indeed1 that your ,honours are not often wont at the present time to grant interest at the rate of one florin for twenty2 and ,i have been told that before now other applications of a like kind have been refused4 ,it is not1 therefore1 without scruple that ,i address your ,honours in this matter4 ,yet my necessities impel me to prefer this request to your ,honours1 and ,i am encouraged to do so above all by the particularly gracious favour which ,i have always received from your ,honourable ,wisdoms1 as well as by the following considerations4 ,your ,wisdoms know how ,i have always hitherto shown myself dutiful1 willing1 and zealous in all matters that concerned your ,wisdoms and the common weal of the town4 ,you know1 moreover1 how1 before now1 ,i have served many individual members of the ,council1 as well as of the community here1 gratuitously rather than for pay1 when they stood in need of my help1 art1 and labour4 ,i can also write with truth that1 during the thirty years ,i have stayed at home1 ,i have not received from people in this town work worth #ejj florins--truly a trifling and ridiculous sum--and not a fifth part of that has been profit4 ,i have1 on the contrary1 earned and attained all my property 7which1 ,god knows1 has grown irksome to me7 from ,princes1 ,lords1 and other foreign persons1 so that ,i only spend in this town what ,i have earned from foreigners4 ,doubtless1 also1 your ,honours remember that at one time ,emperor ,maximilian1 of most praiseworthy memory1 in return for the manifold services which ,i had performed for him1 year after year1 of his own impulse and imperial charity wanted to make me free of taxes in this town4 ,at the instance1 however1 of some of the elder ,councillors1 who treated with me in the matter in the name of the ,council1 ,i willingly resigned that privilege1 in order to honour the said ,councillors and to maintain their privileges1 usages1 and rights4 ,again1 nineteen years ago1 the government of ,venice offered to appoint me to an office and to give me a salary of #bjj ducats a year4 ,so1 too1 only a short time ago when ,i was in the ,netherlands1 the ,council of ,antwerp would have given me #cjj ,philipsgulden a year1 kept me there free of taxes1 and honoured me with a well-built house2 and besides ,i should have been paid in addition at both places for all the work ,i might have done for the gentry4 ,but ,i declined all this1 because of the particular love and affection which ,i bear to your honourable ,wisdoms and to my fatherland1 this honourable town1 preferring1 as ,i did1 to live under your ,wisdoms in a moderate way rather than to be rich and held in honour in other places4 ,it is1 therefore1 my most submissive prayer to your ,honours1 that you will be pleased graciously to take these facts into consideration1 and to receive from me on my account these #ajjj florins1 paying me #ej florins a year as interest4 ,i could1 indeed1 place them well with other respectable parties here and elsewhere1 but ,i should prefer to see them in the hands of your ,wisdoms4 ,i and my wife will then1 now that we are both growing daily older1 feebler1 and more helpless1 possess the certainty of a fitting household for our needs2 and we shall experience thereby1 as formerly1 your honourable ,wisdoms' favour and goodwill4 ,to merit this from your ,honours with all my powers ,i shall ever be found willing4 ,your ,wisdoms' willing1 obedient burgher1 ,,albrecht ,d,,rer4 ,drer obtained the desired five per cent4 on his savings annually until his death1 and afterwards his widow received four per cent4 until her death4 ,in #aebf the grateful artist finished and dedicated to his fellow-townsmen his most important picture1 representing the four temperaments in the persons of ,st4 ,john1 ,st4 ,peter1 ,st4 ,paul1 and ,st4 ,mark2 he wrote thus to the ,council3 ,prudent1 honourable1 wise1 dear ,masters1--,i have been intending1 for a long time past1 to show my respect for your ,wisdoms by the presentation of some humble picture of mine as a remembrance2 but ,i have been prevented from so doing by the imperfection and insignificance of my works1 for ,i felt that with such ,i could not well stand before your ,wisdoms4 ,now1 however1 that ,i have just painted a panel upon which ,i have bestowed more trouble than on any other painting1 ,i considered none more worthy to keep it as a remembrance than your ,wisdoms4 ,therefore1 ,i present it to your ,wisdoms with the humble and urgent prayer that you will favourably and graciously receive it1 and will be and continue1 as ,i have ever found you1 my kind and dear ,masters4 ,thus shall ,i be diligent to serve your ,wisdoms in all humility4 ,your ,wisdoms' humble ,,albrecht ,d,,rer4 ,the gift was accepted1 and the ,council voted ,drer #ajj florins1 his wife #aj1 and his apprentice #b4 ,underneath the two panels which form the picture1 the following was inscribed2 the texts being from ,luther's ,bible3 ,all worldly rulers in these dangerous times should give good heed that they receive not human misguidance for the ,word of ,god1 for ,god will have nothing added to ,his ,word nor taken away from it4 ,hear1 therefore1 these four excellent men1 ,peter1 ,john1 ,paul1 and ,mark1 their warning4 ,peter says in his ,second ,epistle in the second chapter3 ,there were false prophets also among the people1 even as there shall be false teachers among you1 who privily shall bring in damnable heresies1 even denying the ,lord that bought them1 and bring upon themselves swift destruction4 ,and many shall follow their pernicious ways2 by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of4 ,and through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you3 whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not1 and their damnation slumbereth not4 ,john in his ,first ,epistle in the fourth chapter writes thus3 ,beloved1 believe not every spirit1 but try the spirits whether they are of ,god3 because many false prophets are gone out into the world4 ,hereby know ye the ,spirit of ,god3 ,every spirit that confesseth that ,jesus ,christ is come in the flesh1 is of ,god3 and every spirit that confesseth not that ,jesus ,christ is come in the flesh1 is not of ,god3 and this is that spirit of antichrist1 whereof ye have heard that it should come2 and even now already is it in the world4 ,in the ,second ,epistle to ,timothy in the third chapter ,st4 ,paul writes3 ,this know1 also1 that in the last days perilous times shall come4 ,for men shall be lovers of their own selves1 covetous1 boasters1 proud1 blasphemers1 disobedient to parents1 unthankful1 unholy1 without natural affection1 truce-breakers1 false accusers1 incontinent1 fierce1 despisers of those that are good1 traitors1 heady1 high-minded1 lovers of pleasures more than lovers of ,god2 having a form of godliness1 but denying the power thereof3 from such turn away4 ,for of this sort are they which creep into houses1 and lead captive silly women laden with sins1 led away with divers lusts1 ever learning1 and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth4 ,st4 ,mark writes in his ,gospel in the twelfth chapter3 ,he said unto them in ,his doctrine1 ,beware of the scribes1 which love to go in long clothing1 and love salutations in the market-places1 and the chief seats in the synagogues1 and the uppermost rooms at feasts2 which devour widows' houses1 and for a pretense make long prayers3 these shall receive greater damnation4 ,these rather tremendous texts may make one fear that the three godless painters had found little pity in their master2 but most sincere ,christians are better than their creeds1 and more charitable than the old-world imprecations1 admonitions1 and denunciations1 with which they soothe their ,cerberus of an old ,adam1 who is not allowed to use his teeth to the full extent that their formidable nature would seem to warrant4 ,for have they not been told above all things to love their enemies1 and do good to those whom they would naturally hate1 by a master whom they really love and strive to imitate8 ,,iv ,drer's last years were given more and more to writing down his ideas for the sake of those who1 coming after him1 would1 he was persuaded1 go on far before him in the race for perfection4 ,in #aebe he published his first book--,instruction in the ,measurement with the ,compass1 and ,rules of ,lines1 ,surfaces1 and ,solid ,bodies1 drawn up by ,albert ,drer1 and printed1 for the use of all lovers of art1 with appropriate diagrams4 ,it contains a course of applied geometry in connection with ,euclid's ,elements4 ,drer states from the very commencement that his book will be of no use to any one who understands the geometry of the 'very acute' ,euclid2 for it has been written only for the young1 and for those who have had no one to instruct them accurately4 ,thausing tells us his work shows certain resemblances to that of ,luca ,pacioli1 a companion of ,leonardo's1 who may have been the man who is willing to teach me the secrets of the art of perspective1 and whom ,drer in #aejf travelled from ,venice to ,bologna to see2 it is even possible that he saw ,leonardo himself in the latter town4 ,in #aebg he issued an essay on the ,art of ,fortification1 which the development of artillery was then transforming2 and authorities on this very special science tell us that ,drer is the true author of the ideas on which the new ,prussian system was founded4 ,it was dread of the unchristian ,turk who was then besieging ,vienna which called forth from ,drer this excursion4 ,he dedicated it in the following terms3 ,to the most illustrious1 mighty prince and lord1 ,lord ,ferdinand1 ,king of ,hungary and ,bohemia1 ,infant of ,spain1 ,archduke of ,austria1 ,duke of ,burgundy and ,brabant1 ,count of ,hapsburg1 ,flanders1 and ,tirol1 his ,roman ,imperial ,majesty1 our most gracious ,lord1 ,regent in the ,holy ,empire1 my most gracious ,sire4 ,most illustrious mighty ,king1 most gracious ,sire1--,during the lifetime of the most illustrious and mighty ,emperor ,maximilian of praiseworthy memory1 your ,majesty's ,lord and ,grandsire1 ,i experienced grace and favour from his ,imperial ,majesty2 wherefore ,i consider myself no less bound to serve your ,majesty according to my small powers4 ,as it happeneth that your ,majesty has commanded some towns and places to be fortified1 ,i am induced to make known what little ,i know about these matters1 if perchance it may please your ,majesty to gather somewhat therefrom4 ,for though my theory may not be accepted in every point1 still ,i believe something will arise from it1 here and there1 useful not to your ,majesty only1 but to all other ,princes1 ,lords1 and ,towns1 that would gladly protect themselves against violence and unjust oppression4 ,i therefore humbly pray your ,majesty graciously to accept from me this evidence of my gratitude1 and to be my most gracious lord1 ,your ,royal ,majesty's most humble ,,albrecht ,d,,rer4 ,it seems that at any rate the ,kronenburg ,gate and ,roseneck bastion of ,strasburg were actually constructed in accordance with ,drer's method4 ,when1 on ,april #f1 #aebh1 ,drer died suddenly1 two volumes of his great work on ,human ,proportions were ready for the press1 and enough raw material1 notes1 drawings1 c41 to enable his friend ,pirkheimer to prepare and issue the remaining two with them4 ,of the misunderstanding of this the most important of ,drer's writings ,i shall say nothing here1 as ,i have devoted a separate chapter to it4 ,v ,it seems probable that the wondrous sickness which overcame me in ,zeeland1 such as ,i never heard of from any man1 and which sickness remains with me of the ,netherlands ,journal 7p4 #aef7 was an intermittent fever4 ,there exists at ,bremen a sketch of ,drer1 nude down to the waist1 and pointing with his finger to a spot between the pit of the stomach and the groin1 which spot he has coloured yellow2 and from its size1 with the other descriptions of his malady1 the skilful have arrived at the above diagnosis4 ,the words on the sketch1 ,the yellow spot to which my finger points is where it pains me1 seem to indicate that he had made it to send to some skilled physician4 ,thausing suggests either ,master ,jacob or ,master ,braun1 whom he had met at ,antwerp1 and deduces from the length of his hair and the apparent vigour of his body1 that the drawing was made soon after the disease was contracted4 ,all doubt as to its nature would be removed1 could it be made certain that by the words1 ,i have sent to your ,grace early this year before ,i became ill1 in a letter to the ,elector ,albert dated ,september #d1 #aebc1 ,drer meant to imply that at a certain period he became ill every year2 but of course it is impossible to be sure of this4 ,,vi ,if not rich1 ,drer died comfortably off4 ,thausing tells us that his widow entered into possession of his whole fortune2 a fourth part belonged1 according to ,nuremberg law1 to his brothers1 but she was not bound to render it to them before her death4 ,on ,june #i1 #aecj1 however1 she of her own desire1 and on account of the friendly feeling which she entertained for them for her husband's sake1 and as her dear brothers-in-law1 made over both to ,andreas ,drer1 goldsmith1 and to ,caspar ,altmulsteiner1 on behalf of ,hans ,drer1 then in the service of the ,king of ,poland1 a sum of #eec florins1 three pounds1 eleven pfennigs1 and gave them a mortgage for the remaining sum of #fjh florins1 two pounds1 twenty-four pfennigs on the corner house in the ,zistelgasse1 now called the ,drer ,house2 for the property had been valued at #fhdh florins1 seven pounds1 twenty-four pfennigs4 ,johann ,neudrffer1 who lived opposite the ,drers1 has recorded the fact that ,drer's brother ,endres inherited all his expensive colours1 his copper plates and wood blocks1 as well as any impressions there were1 and all his drawings beside4 ,and a year before her death1 ,agnes ,drer gave the interest on the #ajjj florins invested in the town to found a scholarship for theological students at the ,university of ,wittenberg2 about which ,melanchthon wrote to von ,dietrich that he thanked ,god for this aid to study1 and that he had praised this good deed of the widow ,drer before ,luther and others4 ,and yet ,pirkheimer1 in his spleen at having lost the chance of procuring some stags' antlers which had belonged to his friend1 and which he coveted1 could write of ,agues ,drer3 ,she watched him day and night and drove him to work 444 that he might earn money and leave it her when he died4 ,for she always thought she was on the borders of ruin--as for the matter of that she does still--though ,albrecht left her property worth as much as six thousand florins4 ,but there6 nothing was enough2 and1 in fact1 she alone is the cause of his death6 ,we know that what with the four ,apostles and his books ,drer's last years were not spent on remunerative labours2 nor does the ,netherlands ,journal contain any hint that his wife tried to restrict the employment either of his time or money4 ,his journey into ,zeeland was a pure extravagance2 for the sale of a copper engraving or woodcut of a whale would have taken some time to make up for such an expense1 and1 as it turned out1 no whale was seen or drawn2 and there is no hint that ,frau ,drer made reproach or complaint4 ,on the other hand1 ,pirkheimer's words probably had some slight basis2 and as ,drer's sickness increased upon him1 while at the same time he applied himself less and less to making money1 the anxious ,frau may have become fretful or even nagging at times2 and ,pirkheimer1 whose companionship was probably a cause of extravagances to ,drer1 may have been scolded by ,agnes1 or heard his friend excuse himself from taking part in some convivial meeting1 on the plea that his wife found he was spending out of proportion to his takings at the moment4 ,,vii ,we have the testimony of a good number of ,drer's friends as to the value of his character2 and first let us quote from ,pirkheimer--writing immediately after ,drer's death and before' the loss of the coveted antlers had vexed him--to a common friend ,ulrich1 probably ,ulrich ,varnbler4 ,what can be more grievous for a man than to have continually to mourn1 not only children and relations whom death steals from him1 but friends also1 and among them those whom he loved best8 ,and though ,i have often had to mourn the loss of relations1 still ,i do not know that any death ever caused me such grief as fills me now at the sudden departure of our good and dear ,albrecht ,drer4 ,nor is this without reason1 for of all men not united to me by ties of blood1 ,i have never loved or esteemed any like him for his countless virtues and rare uprightness4 ,and because ,i know1 my dear ,ulrich1 that this blow has struck both you and me alike1 ,i have not been afraid to give vent to my grief before you of all others1 so that together we may pay the fitting tribute of tears to such a friend4 ,he is gone1 good ,ulrich2 our ,albrecht is gone6 ,oh1 inexorable decree of fate6 ,oh1 miserable lot of man6 ,oh1 pitiless severity of death6 ,such a man1 yea1 such a man1 is torn from us1 while so many useless and worthless men enjoy lasting happiness1 and live only too long6 ,thausing insists on the fact that in this letter there is no mention of ,drer's death having been caused by his wife's behaviour2 but as the relation of ,ulrich to the deceased seems to have been well-nigh as intimate as his own1 there may have been no need to mention a fact painfully present to both their minds4 ,on the other hand1 it is at least as probable that the idea was not present even to the mind of the writer1 who1 in a style less studiously commonplace1 inscribed on ,drer's tomb3 ,me4 ,,al4 ,,du4 ,,qvicqvid ,,alberti ,,dvreri ,,mortale ,,fvit1 ,,svb ,,hoc ,,conditvr ,,tvmvlo4 ,,emigravit ,,viii ,,idvs ,,aprilis ,,mdxxviii4 7,to the memory of ,albrecht ,drer4 ,all that was mortal of ,albrecht ,drer is laid beneath this mound4 ,he departed on ,april #f1 #aebh47 ,luther wrote to ,eoban ,hesse3 ,as to ,drer1 it is natural and right to weep for so excellent a man2 still you should rather think him blessed1 as one whom ,christ has taken in the fulness of ,his wisdom1 and by a happy death1 from these most troublous times1 and perhaps from times even more troublous which are to come1 lest one who was worthy to look upon nothing but excellence should be forced to behold things most vile4 ,may he rest in peace4 ,amen4 ,erasmus had some months before written and printed in a treatise on the right pronunciation of ,latin and ,greek an eulogy of ,drer4 ,it is not known whether a copy had reached him before his death2 in any case to most people it came like a funeral oration from the greatest scholar on the greatest artist north of the ,alps4 ,thausing quotes the following passage from it3 ,i have known ,drer's name for a long time as that of the first celebrity in the art of painting4 ,some call him the ,apelles of our time4 ,but ,i think that did ,apelles live now1 he1 as an honourable man1 would give the palm to ,drer4 ,apelles1 it is true1 made use of few and unobtrusive colours1 but still he used colours2 while ,drer1--admirable as he is1 too1 in other respects1--what can he not express with a single colour--that is to say1 with black lines8 ,he can give the effect of light and shade1 brightness1 foreground and background4 ,moreover1 he reproduces not merely the natural aspect of a thing1 but also observes the laws of perfect symmetry and harmony with regard to the position of it4 ,he can also transfer by enchantment1 so to say1 upon the canvas1 things which it seems not possible to represent1 such as fire1 sunbeams1 storms1 lightning1 and mist2 he can portray every passion1 show us the whole soul of a man shining through his outward form2 nay1 even make us hear his very speech4 ,all this he brings so happily before the eye with those black lines1 that the picture would lose by being clothed in colour4 ,is it not more worthy of admiration to achieve without the winning charm of colour what ,apelles only realised with its assistance8 ,melanchthon wrote in a letter to ,camerarius3 ,it grieves me to see ,germany deprived of such an artist and such a man4 ,and we learn from his son-in-law1 ,caspar ,penker1 that he often spoke of ,drer with affection and respect2 he writes3 ,melanchthon was often1 and many hours together1 in ,pirkheimer's company1 at the time when they were advising together about the churches and schools at ,nrnberg2 and ,drer1 the painter1 used also to be invited to dinner with them4 ,drer was a man of great shrewdness1 and ,melanchthon used to say of him that though he excelled in the art of painting1 it was the least of his accomplishments4 ,disputes often arose between ,pirkheimer and ,drer on these occasions about the matters recently discussed1 and ,pirkheimer used vehemently to oppose ,drer4 ,drer was an excessively subtle disputant1 and refuted his adversary's arguments1 just as if he had come fully prepared for the discussion4 ,thereupon ,pirkheimer1 who was rather a choleric man and liable to very severe attacks of the gout1 fired up and burst forth again and again into such words as these1 ,what you say cannot be painted4 ,nay6 rejoined ,drer1 but what you advance cannot be put into words or even figured to the mind4 ,i remember hearing ,melanchthon often tell this story1 and in relating it he confessed his astonishment at the ingenuity and power manifested by a painter in arguing with a man of ,pirkheimer's renown4 ,such scenes no doubt took place during the years after ,drer's return from the ,netherlands4 ,melanchthon also wrote in a letter to ,george von ,anhalt3 ,i remember how that great man1 distinguished alike by his intellect and his virtue1 ,albrecht ,drer the painter1 said that as a youth he had loved bright pictures full of figures1 and when considering his own productions had always admired those with the greatest variety in them4 ,but as an older man1 he had begun to observe nature and reproduce it in its native forms1 and had learned that this simplicity was the greatest ornament of art4 ,being unable completely to attain to this ideal1 he said that he was no longer an admirer of his works as heretofore1 but often sighed when he looked at his pictures and thought over his want of power4 ,and in another letter he remembers that ,drer would say that in his youth he had found great pleasure in representing monstrous and unusual figures1 but that in his later years he endeavoured to observe nature1 and to imitate her as closely as possible2 experience1 however1 had taught him how difficult it was not to err4 ,and ,thausing continues3 ,melanchthon speaks even more frequently of how ,drer was pleased with pictures he had just finished1 but when he saw them after a time1 was ashamed of them2 and those he had painted with the greatest care displeased him so much at the end of three years that he could scarcely look at them without great pain4 ,and this on his appreciation of ,luther's writings3 ,albrecht ,drer1 painter of ,nrnberg1 a shrewd man1 once said that there was this difference between the writings of ,luther and other theologians4 ,after reading three or four paragraphs of the first page of one of ,luther's works he could grasp the problem to be worked out in the whole4 ,this clearness and order of arrangement was1 he observed1 the glory of ,luther's writings4 ,he used1 on the contrary1 to say of other writers that1 after reading a whole book through1 he had to consider attentively what idea it was that the author intended to convey4 ,lastly1 ,camerarius1 the professor of ,greek and ,latin in the new school of ,nuremberg1 in his ,latin translation of ,drer's book on ,human ,proportions1 writes thus3 ,it is not my present purpose to talk about art4 ,my purpose was to speak somewhat1 as needs must be1 of the artificer1 the author of this book4 ,he1 ,i trust1 has become known by his virtue and his deserts1 not only to his own country1 but to foreign nations also4 ,full well ,i know that his praises need not our trumpetings to the world1 since by his excellent works he is exalted and honoured with undying glory4 ,yet1 as we were publishing his writings1 and an opportunity arose of committing to print the life and habits of a remarkable man and a very dear friend of ours1 we have judged it expedient to put together some few scraps of information1 learnt partly from the conversations of others and partly from our own intercourse with him4 ,this will give some indication of his singular skill and genius as artist and man1 and cannot fail of affording pleasure to the reader4 ,we have heard that our ,albrecht was of ,hungarian extraction1 but that his forefathers emigrated to ,germany4 ,we can1 therefore1 have but little to say of his origin and birth4 ,though they were honourable1 there can be no question but that they gained more glory from him than he from them4 ,nature bestowed on him a body remarkable in build and stature1 and not unworthy of the noble mind it contained2 that in this1 too1 ,nature's ,justice1 extolled by ,hippocrates1 might not be forgotten--that ,justice1 which1 while it assigns a grotesque form to the ape's grotesque soul1 is wont also to clothe noble minds in bodies worthy of them4 ,his head was intelligent1#ga his eyes flashing1 his nose nobly formed1 and1 as the ,greeks say1 tetrgnon4 ,his neck was rather long1 his chest broad1 his body not too stout1 his thighs muscular1 his legs firm and steady4 ,but his fingers--you would vow you had never seen anything more elegant4 ,his conversation was marked by so much sweetness and wit1 that nothing displeased his hearers so much as the end of it4 ,letters1 it is true1 he had not cultivated1 but the great sciences of ,physics and ,mathematics1 which are perpetuated by letters1 he had almost entirely mastered4 ,he not only understood principles and knew how to apply them in practice1 but he was able to set them forth in words4 ,this is proved by his geometrical treatises1 wherein ,i see nothing omitted1 except what he judged to be beyond the scope of his work4 ,an ardent zeal impelled him towards the attainment of all virtue in conduct and life1 the display of which caused him to be deservedly held a most excellent man4 ,yet he was not of a melancholy severity nor of a repulsive gravity2 nay1 whatever conduced to pleasantness and cheerfulness1 and was not inconsistent with honour and rectitude1 he cultivated all his life and approved even in his old age4 ,the works he has left on ,gymnastic and ,music are of such character4 ,but ,nature had specially designed him for a painter1 and therefore he embraced the study of that art with all his energies1 and was ever desirous of observing the works and principles of the famous painters of every land1 and of imitating whatever he approved in them4 ,moreover1 with respect to those studies1 he experienced the generosity and won the favour of the greatest kings and princes1 and even of ,maximilian himself and his grandson the ,emperor ,charles2 and he was rewarded by them with no contemptible salary4 ,but after his hand had1 so to speak1 attained its maturity1 his sublime and virtue-loving genius became best discoverable in his works1 for his subjects were fine and his treatment of them noble4 ,you may judge the truth of these statements from his extant prints in honour of ,maximilian1 and his memorable astronomical diagrams1 not to mention other works1 not one of which but a painter of any nation or day would be proud to call his own4 ,the nature of a man is never more certainly and definitely shown than in the works he produces as the fruit of his art4444 ,what single painter has there ever been who did not reveal his character in his works8 ,instead of instances from ancient history1 ,i shall content myself with examples from our own time4 ,no one can fail to see that many painters have sought a vulgar celebrity by immodest pictures4 ,it is not credible that those artists can be virtuous1 whose minds and fingers composed such works4 ,we have also seen pictures minutely finished and fairly well coloured1 wherein1 it is true1 the master showed a certain talent and industry2 but art was wanting4 ,albrecht1 therefore1 shall we most justly admire as an earnest guardian of piety and modesty1 and as one who showed1 by the magnitude of his pictures1 that he was conscious of his own powers1 although none even of his lesser works is to be despised4 ,you will not find in them a single line carelessly or wrongly drawn1 not a single superfluous dot4 ,what shall ,i say of the steadiness and exactitude of his hand8 ,you might swear that rule1 square1 or compasses had been employed to draw lines1 which he1 in fact1 drew with the brush1 or very often with pencil or pen1 unaided by artificial means1 to the great marvel of those who watched him4 ,why should ,i tell how his hand so closely followed the ideas of his mind that1 in a moment1 he often dashed upon paper1 or1 as painters say1 composed1 sketches of every kind of thing with pencil or pen8 ,i see ,i shall not be believed by my readers when ,i relate1 that sometimes he would draw separately1 not only the different parts of a composition1 but even the different parts of bodies1 which1 when joined together1 agreed with one another so well that nothing could have fitted better4 ,in fact this consummate artist's mind endowed with all knowledge and understanding of the truth and of the agreement of the parts one with another1 governed and guided his hand and bade it trust to itself without any other aids4 ,with like accuracy he held the brush1 wherewith he drew the smallest things on canvas or wood without sketching them in beforehand1 so that1 far from giving ground for blame1 they always won the highest praise4 ,and this was a subject of greatest wonder to most distinguished painters1 who1 from their own great experience1 could understand the difficulty of the thing4 ,i cannot forbear to tell1 in this place1 the story of what happened between him and ,giovanni ,bellini4 ,bellini had the highest reputation as a painter at ,venice1 and indeed throughout all ,italy4 ,when ,albrecht was there he easily became intimate with him1 and both artists naturally began to show one another specimens of their skill4 ,albrecht frankly admired and made much of all ,bellini's works4 ,bellini also candidly expressed his admiration of various features of ,albrecht's skill1 and particularly the fineness and delicacy with which he drew hairs4 ,it chanced one day that they were talking about art1 and when their conversation was done ,bellini said3 ,will you be so kind1 ,albrecht1 as to gratify a friend in a small matter8 ,you shall soon see1 says ,albrecht1 if you will ask of me anything ,i can do for you4 ,then says ,bellini3 ,i want you to make me a present of one of the brushes with which you draw hairs4 ,drer at once produced several1 just like other brushes1 and1 in fact1 of the kind ,bellini himself used1 and told him to choose those he liked best1 or to take them all if he would4 ,but ,bellini1 thinking he was misunderstood1 said3 ,no1 ,i don't mean these1 but the ones with which you draw several hairs with one stroke2 they must be rather spread out and more divided1 otherwise in a long sweep such regularity of curvature and distance could not be preserved4 ,i use no other than these1 says ,albrecht1 and to prove it1 you may watch me4 ,then1 taking up one of the same brushes1 he drew some very long wavy tresses1 such as women generally wear1 in the most regular order and symmetry4 ,bellini looked on wondering1 and afterwards confessed to many that no human being could have convinced him by report of the truth of that which he had seen with his own eyes4 ,a similar tribute was given him1 with conspicuous candour1 by ,andrea ,mantegna1 who became famous at ,mantua by reducing painting to some severity of law--a fame which he was the first to merit1 by digging up broken and scattered statues1 and setting them up as examples of art4 ,it is true all his work is hard and stiff1 inasmuch as his hand was not trained to follow the perception and nimbleness of his mind2 still it is held that there is nothing better or more perfect in art4 ,while ,andrea was lying ill at ,mantua he heard that ,albrecht was in ,italy1 and had him summoned to his side at once1 in order that he might fortify his 7,albrecht's7 facility and certainty of hand with scientific knowledge and principles4 ,for ,andrea often lamented in conversation with his friends that ,albrecht's facility in drawing had not been granted to him nor his learning to ,albrecht4 ,on receiving the message ,albrecht1 leaving all other engagements1 prepared for the journey without delay4 ,but before he could reach ,mantua ,andrea was dead1 and ,drer used to say that this was the saddest event in all his life2 for1 high as ,albrecht stood1 his great and lofty mind was ever striving after something yet above him4 ,almost with awe have we gazed upon the bearded face of the man1 drawn by himself1 in the manner we have described1 with the brush on the canvas and without any previous sketch4 ,the locks of the beard are almost a cubit long1 and so exquisitely and cleverly drawn1 at such regular distances and in so exact a manner1 that the better any one understands art1 the more he would admire it1 and the more certain would he deem it that in fashioning these locks the hand had employed artificial aid4 ,further1 there is nothing foul1 nothing disgraceful in his work4 ,the thoughts of his most pure mind shunned all such things4 ,artist worthy of success6 ,how like1 too1 are his portraits6 ,how unerring6 ,how true6 ,all these perfections he attained by reducing mere practice to art and method1 in a way new at least to ,german painters4 ,with ,albrecht all was ready1 certain1 and at hand1 because he had brought painting into the fixed track of rule and recalled it to scientific principles2 without which1 as ,cicero said1 though some things may be well done by help of nature1 yet they cannot always be ready to hand1 because they are done by chance4 ,he first worked his principles out for his own use2 afterwards with his generous and open nature he attempted to explain them in books1 written to the illustrious and most learned ,wilibald ,pirkheimer4 ,and he dedicated them to him in a most elegant letter which we have not translated1 because we felt it to be beyond our power to render it into ,latin without1 so to speak1 disfiguring its natural countenance4 ,but before he could complete and publish the books1 as he had hoped1 he was carried off by death--a death1 calm indeed and enviable1 but in our view premature4 ,if there was anything at all in that man which could seem like a fault1 it was his excessive industry1 which often made unfair demands upon him4 ,death1 as we have said1 removed him from the publication of the work which he had begun1 but his friends completed the task from his own manuscript4 ,about this1 in the next place1 and about our own version1 we shall say a few words4 ,the work1 being founded on a sort of geometrical system1 is unpolished and devoid of literary style2 so it seems rather rugged4 ,but that is easily forgiven in consideration of the excellence of the matter4 ,he requested me himself1 only a few days before his death1 to translate it into ,latin while he should correct it2 and ,i willingly turned my attention and studies to the work4 ,but death1 which takes everything1 took from him his power of supervision and correction4 ,his friends subsequently1 after publishing the work1 prevailed on me1 by their claims rather than their requests1 to undertake the ,latin translation1 and to complete after his death the task ,drer had laid upon me in his life4 ,if ,i find that my industry and devotion in this matter meet with my readers' approval1 ,i shall be encouraged to translate into ,latin the rest of ,albrecht's treatise on painting1 a work at once more finished and more laborious than the present4 ,moreover1 his writings on other subjects will also be looked for1 his ,geometries and ,tichismatics1 in which he explained the fortification of towns according to the system of the present day4 ,these1 however1 appear to be all the subjects on which he wrote books4 ,as to the promise1 which ,i hear certain persons are making in conversation or in writing1 to publish a book by ,drer on the symmetry of the parts of the horse1 ,i cannot but wonder from what source they will obtain after his death what he never completed during his life4 ,although ,i am well aware that ,albrecht had begun to investigate the law of truth in this matter too1 and had made a certain number of measurements1 ,i also know that he lost all he had done through the treachery of certain persons1 by whose means it came about that the author's notes were stolen1 so that he never cared to begin the work afresh4 ,he had a suspicion1 or rather a certainty1 as to the source whence came the drones who had invaded his store2 but the great man preferred to hide his knowledge1 to his own loss and pain1 rather than to lose sight of generosity and kindness in the pursuit of his enemies4 ,we shall not1 therefore1 suffer anything that may appear to be attributed to ,albrecht's authorship1 unworthy as it must evidently be of so great an artist4 ,a few years ago some tracts also appeared in ,german1 containing rules1 in general faulty and inappropriate1 about the same matter4 ,on these ,i do not care now to waste words1 though the author1 unless ,i am much mistaken1 has not once repented of his publication4 ,but these rules above-mentioned1 which are easily proved to be ,albrecht's1 not only because he prepared them himself for publication1 but also because of their own excellence1 you will1 ,i think1 obtain considerably better here than from other sources4 ,not that they are more finished in point of erudition and learning in the present book than elsewhere1 but because those who interpret them in the author's own workshop1 among the expansions and corrections of his autograph manuscripts and the variations of his different copies1 stand in the light about many points1 which must of necessity seem obscure to others1 however learned they may be4 ,this will be seen in the case of the book on ,geometry1 which a learned man has in hand and will shortly publish in a more elaborate form1 and with more explanation of certain points than it possesses at present4 ,for it will be increased by no less than twenty-six ,greek3 schmata 7figures7 and countless corrections or improvements of earlier editions4 ,the author himself on rereading had thus improved and amplified what had already been issued4 ,as though he foresaw that he would publish no more1 he had directed his future editors as to what was to be done about the letterpress and figures2 and we shall take care that it is published at the earliest possible date in the ,german language1 in which the author wrote it4 ,it is only to be expected that this will be welcome to the public1 who will thus return thanks for the author's burning desire to do something by his discoveries for the public good1 and for our own labour and eagerness in publishing to all nations what appears to be written only for one4 ,though these testimonies may often seem either trifling1 or obscured by the pedantic affectation of the writers1 they1 like the signatures of well-respected men1 endorse the impression produced by ,drer's works and writings4 ,as we study the character of ,drer's creative gift in relation to his works1 several of the phrases used by ,erasmus1 ,camerarius1 and ,melanchthon should take added significance1 being probably remembered from conversations with the great artist himself4#gb ,drer1 like ,luther1 was depressed and distressed at the course the ,reformation had run2 but1 like ,erasmus1 though regretting and disparaging the present1 he looked forward to the future1 and knew that he would be surpassed1 and had no morbid inclination to see the end and final failure of human effort in his own exhaustion4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #gj3 ,b4 #ajf1 published in #aeac4 ,the block is in the ,court ,library at ,vienna4 ,thawing says it was designed by ,burgkmair or ,springinklee4 ,footnote #ga3 ,caput argutum4 ,the phrase is from ,virgil's description of the thorough-bred horse 7,georg4 iii74 ,the above passage is introduced 7with modifications7 into ,melchior ,adam's ,vitae ,germ4 ,philos4 7p4#ff74 where this sentence runs3 ,the deep-thinking1 serene-souled artist was seen unmistakably in his arched and lofty brow and in the fiery glance of his eye4 ,footnote #gb3 ,in the foregoing quotations the sentences which seem to me most reminiscent of ,drer's ideas are printed in italics4 ,,part ,,iii ,d,,rer ,,as ,a ,,creator ,illustration ,,chapter ,i ,d,,rer',s ,,pictures ,i ,drer's paintings have suffered more by the malignity of fortune than any of his other works4 ,several have disappeared entirely1 and several are but wrecks of what they once were4 ,others are1 as he tells us1 ordinary pictures1 of which ,i will in a year paint a pile which no one would believe it possible for one man to do in the time1 and are perhaps more the work of assistants than of the master4 ,others1 again1 have since been repainted1 more or less disastrously4 ,yet enough remain to show us that ,drer was not a painter born1 in the sense that ,titian and ,correggio or ,rembrandt and ,rubens are2 nay1 not even in the sense that a ,jan ,van ,eyck or a ,mantegna is4 ,mantegna is certainly the painter with whom ,drer has most affinity1 and whose method of employing pigment is least removed from his2 but ,mantegna is a born colourist--a man whose eye for colour is like a musician's ear for melody--while ,drer is at best with difficulty able to avoid glaring discords1 and1 if we are to judge by the ordinary pictures1 did not avoid them4 ,again1 ,mantegna is not so dependent on line as ,drer--nearly the whole of whose surface is produced by hatching with the brush point4 ,these facts may1 perhaps1 account for the large portion of ,drer's time devoted to engraving4 ,as an engraver he early found a style for himself1 which he continued to develop to the end of his life4 ,as a painter he was for ever experimenting1 influenced now by ,jacopo de' ,barbari1 again by ,bellini and the pictures he saw at ,venice1 and yet again by those he saw in the ,netherlands4 ,as ,velasquez1 after each of his journeys to ,italy1 returns to attempt a mythological picture in the grand style1 so ,drer turns to painting after his return from ,venice or from the ,netherlands2 and his pictures divide themselves into three groups3 those painted after or during his ,wanderjahre and before he went to ,venice in #aeje1 those painted there and during the next five years after his return1 and those painted in the ,netherlands or commenced immediately on his return thence4 ,,ii ,the mediums of oil and tempera lend themselves to the production of broad-coloured surfaces that merge imperceptibly into one another4 ,there are men the fundamental unit of whose picture language is a blot or shape2 as children or as savages1 they would find these most capable of expressing what they saw4 ,there are others for whom the scratch or line is the fundamental unit1 for whom every object is most naturally expressed by an outline4 ,there are1 of course1 men who present us with every possible blend of these two fundamental forms of picture language4 ,the mediums of oils and tempera are especially adapted to the requirements of those who see things rather as a diaper of shapes than as a map of lines2 while for these last the point of pen1 burin1 or etching-needle offers the most congenial implement4 ,drer was very greatly more inclined to express objects by a map of lines than as a diaper of coloured shapes2 and for this reason ,i say that he was not a painter born4 ,if this be true1 as a painter he must have been at a disadvantage4 ,in this preponderance of the draughtsman qualities he resembles many artists of the ,florentine school1 as also in his theoretic pre-occupation with perspective1 proportion1 architecture1 and technical methods4 ,we are impressed by a coldness of approach1 an austerity1 a dignity not altogether justified by the occasion1 but as it were carried over from some precedent hour of spiritual elevation2 the prophet's demeanour in between the days of visitation1 a little too consciously careful not to compromise the divinity which informs him no longer4 ,this tendency to fall back on manner greatly acquired indeed1 but no longer consonant with the actual mood1 which is really too vacant of import to parade such importance1 is often a fault of natures whose native means of expression is the thin line1 the geometer's precision1 the architect's foresight in measurement4 ,and by allowing for it ,i think we can explain the contradiction apparent between the critics' continual insistence on what they call ,drer's great thoughts1 and the sparsity of intellectual creativeness which strikes one in turning over his engravings1 so many are there of which either the occasion or the conception are altogether trivial when compared with the grandiose aspect of the composition or the impeccable mechanical performance4 ,drer's literary remains sufficiently prove his mind to have been constantly exercised upon and around great thoughts1 and their influence may be felt in the austerity and intensity of his noblest portraits and other creations4 ,but great thoughts in respect of works of art either means the communication of a profound emotion by the creation of a suitable arabesque for a deeply significant subject1 as in the flowing masses of ,michael ,angelo's ,creation of ,man1 or it means the pictorial enhancing of the telling incidents of a dramatic situation such as we find it in ,rembrandt's treatment of the ,crucifixion1 ,deposition1 or ,entombment4 ,now it seems to me the paucity of successes on these lines in one who nevertheless occasionally entirely succeeds1 is what is most striking in ,drer4 ,perhaps when dealing with the graphic arts one should rather speak of great character than great thoughts2 yet ,drer1 while constantly impressing us as a great character1 seems to be one who was all too rarely wholly himself4 ,the abundant felicity in expression of ,rembrandt or ,shakespeare is altogether wanting4 ,the imperial imposition of mood which ,michael ,angelo affects is perhaps never quite certainly his1 even in the ,melancholy4 ,yet we feel that not only has he a capacity of the same order as those men1 but that he is spiritually akin to them1 despite his coldness1 despite his ostentation4 ,but not only is ,drer praised for great thoughts1 but he is praised for realism1 and sometimes accused of having delighted in ugliness2 or1 as it is more cautiously expressed1 of having preferred truth to grace4 ,this is a point which ,i consider may better be discussed in respect to his drawings than his pictures1 which nearly always have some obvious conventional or traditional character1 so that the word realism cannot be applied to them4 ,even in his portraits his signature or an inscription is often added in such a manner as insists that this is a painting1 a panel2--not a view through a window1 or an attempt to deceive the eye with a make-believe reality4 ,,iii ,the altar-piece1 consisting of a centre1 the ,virgin ,mary adoring her baby son in the carpenter's shop at ,nazareth1 and two wings1 ,st4 ,anthony and ,st4 ,sebastian1 though the earliest of ,drer's pictures which has survived1 is perhaps the most beautiful of them all1 at least as far as the two wings are concerned4 ,the centre has been considerably damaged by repainting1 and was probably1 owing to the greater complication of motives in it1 never quite so successful4 ,whether at ,venice or elsewhere1 it would seem almost necessary that the young painter had seen and been impressed by pictures by ,gentile ,bellini and ,andrea ,mantegna1 both of whom have painted in the same thin tempera on fine canvas1 obtaining similar beauties of colour and surface4 ,it is hardly possible to imagine one who had seen none but ,german or ,flemish pictures painting the ,st4 ,sebastian4 ,the treatment of the still life in the foreground is in itself almost a proof of this4 ,perhaps this thin1 flat tempera treatment was that most suited to ,drer's native bias1 and we should regret his having been tempted to overcome the more brilliant and exacting medium of oils4 ,in any case he more than once reverted to it in portraits and studies1 while the majority of the pictures painted before he went to ,venice in #aejf have more or less kinship with it4 ,the supposed portrait of ,frederic the ,wise is another masterpiece in this kind1 and the ,hercules slaying the birds of the ,stymphalian ,lake in the ,germanic ,museum1 ,nuremberg1 #aejj1 was probably another4 ,for though now considerably damaged by restorations and dirt1 it suggests far greater pleasures than it actually imparts4 ,the contrast between ,the sea-worn face sad as mortality1 ,divine with yearning after fellowship1 and the blond richly curling hair blown back from it1 is extremely fine and entirely suited to the treatment2 as is also the similar contrast between the richly inlaid bow1 shield1 and arrows1 and the broad and flowing modulation of the energetic limbs and back4 ,the ,paumgartner altar-piece1 #adii1 stands out from the ordinary pictures belonging to this early period4 ,it consists of a charming and gay ,nativity in the centre1 and two knights in armour on the wings1 probably portraits of the donors1 ,stephan and ,lucas ,paumgartner1 figuring as warlike saints4 ,stephan1 a personal friend of ,drer's1 figured again as ,st4 ,george in the ,trinity and ,all ,saints picture painted in #aeaa4 ,there were originally two panels with female saints beyond these again1 but no trace of them remains4 ,now that the landscape backgrounds have been removed from the side panels1 there is no reason to suppose that any one but ,drer had a hand in these works4 ,but in writing to ,heller1 he tells him that it was unheard of to put so much work into an altar-piece as he was then putting into his ,coronation of the ,virgin1 and we may feel certain that ,drer regarded this picture as in the altar-piece category4 ,the two knights are represented against black grounds1 and their silhouettes form a very fine arabesque1 which the streamers of their lances1 artificially arranged1 complete and emphasise4 ,this black ground points probably to the influence of ,jacopo de' ,barbari1 whom ,drer had met and been mystified by4 7,see p4 #fc47 ,illustration3 ,,st4 ,,george ,,and ,,st4 ,,eustace ,side panels in oils of the ,paumgartner ,altar-piece in the ,alt ,pinakothek1 ,munich ,no doubt there was much in such a background that appealed to the draughtsman in ,drer4 ,it insisted on the outline which had probably been the starting-point of his conception4 ,nothing could be less painter-like1 or make the modelling of figures more difficult1 as ,drer1 perhaps1 realised when he later on painted the ,adam and ,eve at ,madrid4 ,these two warriors are1 however1 most successful and imposing1 and immeasurably enhanced now that the spurious backgrounds1 artfully concocted out of ,drer's own prints by an ingenious improver of his betters1 have been removed4 ,this person had also tinkered the centre picture1 painting out two heraldic groups of donors1 far smaller in scale than the actual personages of the scene1 but very useful in the composition1 as giving a more ample base to the masses of broken and fretted quality2 useful also now as an additional proof of how free from the fetters of an impertinent logic of realism ,drer ever was4 ,these little kneeling donors and their coats of arms emphasise the surface1 and are delightful in their navety1 while they serve to render the gay1 almost gaudy panel more homely1 and give it a place and a function in the world4 ,for they help us to realise that it answered a demand1 and was not the uncalled-for and slightly frigid excursion of the aesthetic imagination which it must otherwise appear4 ,in the same way the brilliant ,adoration of the ,magi 7dated #aejd7 in the ,uffizi1 also somewhat gaudy and frigid1 could we but see it where it originally hung in ,luther's church at ,wittenberg1 might invest itself with some charm that one vainly seeks in it now4 ,the failure in emotion might seem more natural if we saw the wise ,elector discussing his new purchase2 we might have felt what ,drer meant when a year later he wrote from ,venice3 ,i am a gentleman here and only a hanger-on at home4 ,the expectation and prophecy of his success in those who surround a painter1--even if it be chiefly expressed by bitter rivalry1 or the craft by which one greedy purchaser tries to over-reach another1 even if he has to be careful not to eat at some tables for fear of being poisoned by a host whose ambition his present performance may have dashed--even expressed in this truly ,venetian manner1 the expectation and prophecy of his success in those about him make it easier for a painter to soar1 and may touch his work with an indefinable glow that the approval of honest and astute electors or solid burghers may have been utterly powerless to impart4 ,,iv ,at ,venice1 perhaps the occasion for his journey thither1 ,drer undertook a more important work than any he had yet attempted4 ,the ,feast of the ,rose ,garlands was painted for the high altar of the church of ,san ,bartolommeo1 belonging to the ,german ,merchants' ,exchange1 and close to their ,pondaco4#gc ,in it we find a very considerable influence of ,italy in general1 and ,giovanni ,bellini in particular2 it is a splendid and pompous parade piece1 and probably the portraits of the ,german merchants which it contained were the part of the work which was most successful1 as it was certainly that most congenial to ,drer's genius4 ,the ,christ among the ,doctors1 dated #aejf1 and now in the ,barberini ,palace at ,rome1 might seem to have been painted chiefly to justify ,giovanni ,bellini's astonishment at the calligraphical painting of hair4 ,it is one of those pictures of which a literary description would please more than the work itself4 ,though the contrast between the sweet childish face and those of the old worldly scribes is well conceived1 it is in reality so violent as to be grotesque1 and the play of hands produces the effect of a diagram explanatory of a conjuring trick1 or a deaf and dumb alphabet1 instead of conveying the inner sense of the scene represented after ,rossetti's fashion1 who so often succeeded in making hands speak4 ,another work1 which dates from ,venice1 is the little ,crucifixion 7at ,dresden47 ,perhaps the landscape and suffering body are just sufficiently touched with acute emotion to make the arabesque of the two floating ends of the loin-cloth appear a little out of place2 for in spite of the delicacy and all but tenderness which ,drer has for once attained to in the workmanship1 one's satisfaction seems let and hindered4 ,v ,shortly after his return from ,venice1 ,drer completed two life-size panels representing ,adam and ,eve2 there are drawings for them dated during his stay at ,venice1 but as a work of art they are far less interesting than the engraving of the same subject completed three years earlier4 ,the treatment1 even the conception1 has been inadequately influenced by the proposed scale of the work4 ,probably they were like the earlier ,hercules1 done to please the artist himself rather than some patron2 they are an effort to prove that he could do something which was after all too hard for him4 ,not only had he set himself the problem which the ,greeks and ,michael ,angelo1 and ,raphael with their aid alone1 had solved1 of finding proportions suitable to express harmoniously the infinite capacity for complex motion combined with that constancy of intention which gives dignity to men and women alone among animals2 but the technical problems involved in representing life-size nude figures against a plain black ground were indeed an unconscious confession that ,drer did not understand paint4 ,there is a copy of these panels1 recently attributed to ,baldung ,grien1 in the ,pitti4 ,animals and birds have been added from drawings made by ,drer1 but the picture is still farther from success1 though ,grien may not improbably have executed it with ,drer at his elbow4 ,drer made one more attempt at representing a life-size nude1 the ,lucretia1 finished in #aeah1 at a period when his powers seem to have been clouded1 for the few pictures which belong to it are all inferior4 ,however1 studies for the figure exist dated #aejh1 so we may suppose it was a project brought back from ,venice4 ,his ill-success with this subject may remind us of ,shakespeare's long pedantic exercise in rhyme on the same theme4 ,the pictorial motive of ,drer's work is beautiful and worthy of a ,greek3 indeed it is identical with that of ,watts' ,psyche1 of which the version in private hands is very superior to that in the ,tate ,gallery4 ,the position of the bed1 the idea of the draperies all are parallel4 ,no doubt the lonely feather shed from ,love's wing at which ,psyche gazes is both more of a poet's and of a painter's invention than the cold steel of ,lucretia's dagger4 ,and in spite of his wide knowledge of ,greek and ,italian art1 our ,english master could scarcely have produced a work of such classic dignity with the more violent motive of the dagger1 which seems to call for ,the torch that flames with many a lurid flake1 or at least the torpid glow of smouldering embers1 to light it in such a manner as would make a really pictorial treatment possible4 ,no doubt ,drer has been misled by a too tyrannous notion as to what ought to be the physical build of so chaste a matron1 and in his anxiety to make chastity self-evident1 has forgotten to explain the need for it by such a degree of attractiveness as might tempt a tyrant to be dangerous4 ,just as ,shakespeare1 in attempting to exhaust every possible motive which the situation comports1 has forgotten that for a character that can move us a selection is needed4 ,another elaborate piece of frigid invention is the ,massacre of the ,ten ,thousand ,saints in the reign of ,sapor ,,ii4 of ,persia1 in the ,imperial ,gallery at ,vienna1 dated #aejh4 ,however1 in this case no doubt ,drer could plead that the subject was not of his own choice1 for he was commissioned by the ,elector1 ,frederic the ,wise1 whose wisdom probably did not extend to a knowledge of what subjects lend themselves to pictorial treatment4 ,still1 making every allowance for these facts1 it cannot be admitted that ,drer did the best possible with his subject4 ,probably it did not move him1 and neither does he us4 ,peter ,breughel and ,albrecht ,altdorfer would certainly have done far better so far as the conception of the picture is concerned1 though neither of them had so much skill to waste on its realisation4 ,nevertheless1 this tour de force is the picture of ,drer's most pleasing in surface and colour1 with the exception of the ,wings of the ,dresden ,altar-piece4 ,it contains beautiful groups and figures1 and is extremely well executed2 so that it may amuse and delight the eye for a long time while the significance of the subject is forgotten4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,martyrdom ,,of ,,ten ,,thousand ,,saints ,,under ,,sapor ,,ii4 ,,of ,,persia--,oil picture4 ,iste faciebat anno domini #aejh ,albertus ,drer ,alemanus ,,vi ,we now turn to the third and fourth of the half-dozen pictures of ,drer1 which stand out from all the rest by their elaboration and importance4 ,the ,coronation of the ,virgin 7see p4 #ig71 painted as the centre panel of the altar-piece commissioned by ,jacob ,heller at ,frankfort1 was unfortunately burnt with the palace at ,munich on the night of ,april #i1 #afgd2 the ,elector ,maximilian of ,bavaria having forced or cajoled the ,dominicans1 to whose church ,heller had left it1 to sell it to him4 ,it is now represented by a copy made by ,paul ,juvenal in its original position1 where the almost ruined portraits of ,heller and his wife are supposed to have been partly ,drer's1 though the other panels are obviously the work of assistants4 ,this work exists for us in a series of magnificent brush drawings in black and white line on grey paper1 rather than in the copy1 and we can in a measure imagine its appearance by the perfectly- preserved ,trinity and ,all ,saints commenced immediately after it for ,matthew ,landauer1 and now in the ,imperial ,gallery at ,vienna4 ,nothing can surpass this last picture in elaboration and finish2 the colour1 if not beautiful1 is rich and luminous2 and though it is separate faces and draperies which chiefly delight the eye1 the composition of the whole is an adequate adaptation of the traditional treatment for such themes which had been handed down through the middle ages4 ,it invites comparison rather with the similar subjects painted by ,fra ,angelico than with the ,disputa of ,raphael1 to which ,german critics compare it2 however1 it possesses as little of ,angelico's sweet blissfulness as the ,dominican painter possessed of ,drer's accuracy of hand and searching intensity of visual realisation4 ,both painters are interested in individuals1 and1 representing crowds of faces1 make every one a portrait2 both evince a dramatic sense of propriety in gesture1 both revel in bright1 clear colours1 especially azure2 but as the light in ,drer's masterpiece has a rosy hotness1 which ill bears comparison with the virginal pearliness of ,angelico's heaven1 so the costumes and the figures of the ,florentine are doll-like1 when compared with the unmistakable quality of the stuffs in which the fully-resurrected bodies of ,drer's saints rumple and rustle4 ,the wings of his angels are at least those of birds1 though coloured to fancy1 while ,angelico's are of pasteboard tinsel and paint4 ,but in spite of the comparative genuineness of his upholstery1 as a vision of heaven there can be no hesitation in preferring that of the ,florentine4 ,in a frame designed by ,drer and carved under his supervision1 this monument to thoroughness and skill was ensconced in a little chapel dedicated to ,all ,saints1 which in style approaches our ,tudor buildings4 ,there the frame remained till lately with a poor copy of the picture and an inscription in old ,german to this effect3 7',matthew ,landauer completed the dedication of this chapel of the twelve brethren1 together with the foundation attached to it1 and this picture1 in the year #aeaa after the birth of ,christ1'7 ,drer signed his picture with the same ,latin formula as that of the ,coronation3 ,albrecht ,drer of ,nuremberg did this the year from when the ,virgin brought forth #aeaa4 ,,vii ,of all ,drer's paintings of the ,madonna1 there is only one which1 by its superb design1 deserves special notice among his masterpieces4 ,this ,madonna with the ,iris exists in two versions1 both unfinished2 one the property of ,sir ,frederick ,cook1 the other at ,prague1 in the ,rudolphium4 ,this latter ,mr4 ,campbell ,dodgson considers to be a poor copy4 ,the panel is badly cracked1 and weeds and long grasses have been added1 apparently with a view to masking the cracks4 ,judging from a photograph alone1 many of these additions seem so appropriately placed and freely sketched that ,i feel it at least to be possibly a work by the master himself4 ,on the other hand1 ,sir ,frederick's picture is so sleepy and clumsy in handling1 that though it is unfinished1 and perhaps in part damaged by some restorer1 ,i feel great hesitation in regarding it as ,drer's handiwork4 ,in both cases the magnificent design is his1 and that alone in either is fully representative of him4 ,mr4 ,campbell ,dodgson ventures to criticise the profusion of drapery as excessive1 but my feeling1 ,i must confess1 endorses ,drer's in this1 rather than that of his learned critic4 ,to me this profusion1 and the grandeur it gives as a mass in the design1 is of the very essence of what is most peculiarly creative in ,drer's imagination4 ,the last picture of which it is necessary to speak is that of the ,four ,apostles or the ,four ,preachers1 as they have been more appropriately called2 it was perhaps the last he painted1 and is in many respects the most successful4 ,it is the only one by which the comparison with ,raphael1 so dear to ,german critics1 seems at all warranted3 there is certainly some kinship between ,drer's ,st4 ,john and ,st4 ,paul and apostolic figures in the cartoons or on the ,vatican walls4 ,the ,german artist's manner is less rhetorical1 but his conception is hardly less grandiose2 and his taste does not so closely border on over-emphasis1 but neither is it so conscious or so fluent4 ,technically it seems to me that the chief influence is a recollection of the large canvases of ,jan and ,hubert ,van ,eyck and ,hubert ,van der ,goes which ,drer had admired in the ,netherlands2 these had strengthened and directed the bias of his self-culture towards simple masses on a large scale4#gd ,he may very well have sought to combine what he learnt from them with hints he found in the engravings after ,raphael which he obtained in ,antwerp4 ,his increasing sickness may probably account for the fact that the white mantle of ,st4 ,paul is the only portion quite finished4 ,the assertion of the writing-master1 ,johann ,neudrffer1 who in his youth had known ,drer1 that the four figures are typical of the four temperaments1 the sanguine1 the choleric1 the phlegmatic1 and the melancholic1--into which categories an amateurish psychology arbitrarily divided human characters1--is as likely to be correct as it is certain that it adds nothing to the power and beauty of the presentation4 ,though ,drer in his work on human proportions describes the physical build of these different types1 we do not know exactly what degree of precision he imagined it possible to attain in discerning them1 or to what extent their names were merely convenient handles for certain types which he had chosen sthetically4 ,to us to-day this classification is merely a trace of an obsolete pedantry1 which it would be a vain curiosity to attempt to follow with the object of identifying its imaginary bases4 ,the four preachers have all the air of being striking likenesses of actual people which it is possible for work so broadly and grandly conceived to have4 ,these panels are interesting1 even more than by their actual success1 as showing us what a scholar ,drer was to the end2 how he learned from every defeat as well as every victory1 and constantly approached a conception and a rendering of human beauty which seems intimately connected with man's fullest intellectual and spiritual freedom--a conception and rendering of human beauty which ,raphael himself had to learn from the ,greeks and ,michael ,angelo4 ,the work has suffered1 it is supposed1 from restorers1 and also from the ,munich monarch1 ,maximilian1 who had the tremendous texts 7see page #agg7 which ,drer had inscribed beneath the two panels sawn off in order to spare the feelings of the ,jesuits1 who were dominant at his court1 for their conception of religion did not consist with terrors to come for those who1 abuse their trust as governors and directors of mankind4 ,lastly1 mention must be made of ,drer's monochrome masterpiece1 ,the ,road to ,calvary #ae4bg 7see illus471 in the collection of ,sir ,frederick ,cook4 ,a poor copy of this work is at ,dresden1 a better one at ,bergamo4 ,the effect of it1 and several elaborate water-colour designs of the same class1 is akin to the peculiar richness of chased metal work2 glinting light hovers over crowds of little figures4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #gc3 ,the original1 now in the ,monastery of ,strahow-,prague1 is very much damaged1 and in part repainted4 ,there are copies in the ,imperial ,gallery at ,vienna 7,no4 #aejh71 and in the possession of ,a4 ,w4 ,miller1 ,esq41 of ,sevenoaks4 ,it is to be regretted that the ,drer ,society published a photogravure of this latter work1 which1 though till then unknown1 is far less interesting than the original1 of which they only gave a reproduction in the text1 an exhaustive history of its fortunes from the learned pen of ,mr4 ,cambell ,dodgson4 ,this picture1 which is so frequently referred to in the letters from ,venice1 contains portraits of the ,emperor ,maximilian and ,pope ,julius ,,ii41 though neither of them from life1 and in the background those of ,drer and ,pirkheimer4 ,footnote #gd3 ,see what ,melanchthon says1 p4 #ahg4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,d,,rer',s ,,portraits ,i ,if ,drer's pictures are as a whole the least satisfactory section of his work1 in his portraits he makes us abundant amends for the time he might otherwise have been reproached for wasting to obtain a vain mastery over brushes and pigment4 ,unfortunately it is probable that many even of these have been lost or destroyed1 while of his most interesting sitters we have nothing but drawings4 ,he did not paint his friend1 the boisterous and learned ,pirkheimer2 and what would we not give for a painted portrait of ,erasmus1 or a portrait of ,kratzer1 the astronomer royal1 to compare with the two masterpieces by ,holbein in the ,louvre8 ,even the posthumous portrait of his ,imperial patron ,maximilian is less interesting than the drawings from which it was done1 the eccentric sitter not having the time to spare for so sensible a monument4 ,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,of ,,the ,,artist ,pen drawing in dark brown ink at ,erlangen 7,this drawing has been cut down for reproduction7 ,,ii ,however1 ,drer had one sitter who was perhaps the most beautiful of all the sons of men1 whose features combined in an equal measure nobleness of character1 intellectual intensity and physical beauty2 and1 finding him also most patient and accessible1 he painted him frequently4 ,the two earliest portraits of himself are the drawings which show him at the ages of thirteen and nineteen787 respectively 7see illustration74 ,then1 as a young man with a sprouting chin1 we have the picture till recently at ,leipzig of which ,goethe's enthusiastic description has already been quoted 7p4 #fb74 ,it is probable that neither ,titian nor ,holbein could have shown at so early an age a portrait so admirably conceived and executed4 ,it is a masterpiece1 even now that the inevitable improvements which those who lack all relish of genius rarely lack the opportunity1 never the inclination1 to add to a masterpiece1 have confused the drawing of the eyes1 and reduced the bloom and delicacy that the features traced by a master hand1 even when they become an almost complete wreck1 often retain2 for time and fortune are not so conscientiously destructive as the imbecility of the incapable4 ,next we have a portrait of ,drer when only five years older1 in perfect preservation1--that in the ,prado at ,madrid4 ,this charming picture must certainly have drawn a sonnet from the ,shakespeare who wrote ,love's ,labour ,lost1 could he have seen it4 ,for it presents a young dandy1 the delicacy and sensitiveness of whose features seem to demand and warrant the butterfly-like display of the white and black costume hemmed with gold1 and of a cap worthy to crown those flowing honey-coloured locks4 ,there is a good copy of this delightful work in the ,uffizi1 where1 in a congregation of self-painted artists1 it does all but justice to the most beautiful of them all4 ,for fineness of touch the original has never been surpassed by any hand of ,european or even ,chinese master4 ,next there are the dapper little full-length portraits which ,drer inserted in his chief paintings4 ,he stands beside his friend ,pirkheimer at the back of the adoring crowd in the ,feast of the ,roses1 and again in the midst of the mountain slope1 where on all sides of them the ten thousand saints suffer martyrdom4 ,drer stands alone beside an inscription in a gentle pastoral landscape beneath the vision of the ,virgin's ,assumption seen over the heads of the ,apostles1 who gaze up in rapture2 and again he is alone beside a broad peaceful river beneath the vision of the ,holy ,trinity and ,all ,saints4 ,i know of no parallel to these little portraits4 ,rembrandt and ,botticelli and many others have introduced portraits of themselves into religious pictures1 but always in disguise1 as a personage in the crowd or an actor in the scene4 ,only the master who was really most exceptional for his good looks1 has had the kindness1 in spite of every incongruity1 to present himself before us on all important occasions1 like the court beauty in whom it is charity rather than vanity to appear in public4 ,it is expected that the very beautiful be gracious thus4 ,emerson tells us that two centuries ago the ,town ,council of ,montpelier passed a law to constrain two beautiful sisters to sit for a certain time on their balcony every other day1 that all might enjoy the sight of what was most beautiful in their town4 ,it was one of the most gracious traits of ,jeanne d',arc's character that she liked to wear beautiful clothes1 because it pleased the poor people to see her thus4 ,and ,palm ,sunday commemorates another historical example of such grace and truth4 ,drer's face had a striking resemblance to the traditional type for ,jesus1 adding to it just that element of individual peculiarity1 the absence of which makes it ever liable to appear a little vacant and unconvincing4 ,the perception of this would seem to have dictated the general arrangement of ,drer's crowning portrait of himself1 that at ,munich dated #aejj 7see illus471 ,before which 7,mr4 ,ricketts writes in his recently published volume on the ,prado7 one forgets all other portraits whatsoever1 in the sense that this perfect realisation of one of the world's greatest men is equal to the occasion4 ,the most exhaustive visual power and executive capacity meet in this picture1 which would seem to have traversed the many perils to which it has been exposed without really suffering so much as their enumeration makes one expect4 ,thausing tells us3 ,the following is the story of the picture's wanderings1 as told at ,nuremberg4 ,it was lent by the magistrates1 after they had taken the precaution of placing a seal and strings on the back of the panel1 to the painter and engraver ,kgner1 to copy4 ,he1 however1 carefully sawed the panel in half 7layer-wise7 and glued to the authentic back his miserable copy1 which now hangs in the ,town ,hall4 ,the original he sold1 and it eventually came into the possession of ,king ,ludwig ,i41 before ,nuremberg belonged to ,bavaria4 ,illustration3 ,hanfstaengl ,i1 ,albert ,drer of ,nuremberg1 painted my own portrait here in the proper colours at the age of twenty-eight ,oil-painting4 ,alt ,pinakothek1 ,munich ,he suggests that the colour was once bright and varied1 and that by varnish and glazes it has been reduced to its present harmonious condition4 ,the hair is certainly much darker than the other portraits would have led one to expect1 and the almost walnut brown of the general colour scheme is unique in ,drer's work4 ,however1 if some such transmogrification has been effected1 it is marvellous that it should have obliterated so little of the inimitable handiwork of the master4 ,thausing considered the date 7#aejj71 monogram and inscription on the back to be forgeries1 and it certainly looks as if it ought to come nearer to the portrait in the ,feast of the ,rose ,garlands 7#aejf7 than to that at ,madrid 7#adih74 ,a genuine scalloped tablet is faintly visible under the dark glazes which cover the background2 and this1 no doubt1 bears the original inscription and date4 ,what may not have happened to a picture after or before it left the artist's studio8 ,critics are too quick to determine that such changes have been introduced by others4 ,in this case we must remember how experimental ,drer was1 even with regard to his engravings on metal4 ,he tries iron plates and etching1 and finally settles on a method of commencing with etching and finishing with the burin2 and this was in a medium in which he soon found himself at home4 ,but with painting he was vastly more experimental1 and never satisfied with his results1 as he told ,melanchthon 7see p4 #ahg74 ,then we must remember that this picture probably was during ,drer's lifetime1 if not in his own possession1 at least never out of his reach2 and no doubt he was aware that it was the grandest and most perfectly finished of all his portraits--therefore1 as he came more and more1 especially after his visit to the ,netherlands1 to desire and seek after simplicity1 he may himself have added the dark glazes4 ,if the original inscription contained a dedication to ,pirkheimer or some other notable ,nuremberger1 there was every reason for the artist who stole the picture to obliterate this and add a new one3 or this may have been done when it became the property of the town1 for those who sold it may have wished that it should not be known that it might have been an heirloom in their family4 ,infinite are the possibilities1 those only decide in such cases who have a personal motive for doing so2 la rage de conclure 7as ,flaubert saw7 is the pitfall of those who are vain of their knowledge4 ,illustration3 ,,oswolt ,,krel ,oil portrait in the ,alt ,pinakothek at ,munich ,illustration3 ,by permission of the ,burlington ,magazine ,,albert ,d,,rer ,,the ,,elder1 #adig ,national ,gallery ,,iii ,though fearing that it will appear but tedious1 ,i will now attempt briefly to describe in succession the remaining master portraits which we owe to ,drer1 and the effect that each produces4 ,it is by these works and not by his creative pictures that his ranks among the greatest names of painting4 ,these might be compared with the very finest portraits by ,raphael and ,holbein1 and the precedence would remain a question of personal predilection2 since nothing reasoned1 no distinguishable superiority over ,drer in vision or execution could be urged for either4 ,rather1 if mere capacity were regarded1 he must have the palm2 nor did either of his compeers light upon a happier subject than was ,drer's when he represented himself2 nor did they achieve nobler designs4 ,in effect upon our emotions and sensations1 these portraits may compete with the masterpieces of ,titian and ,rembrandt1 though the method of expression is in their case too different to render comparison possible4 ,whatever in the glow of light1 in the power of shadow1 to envelop and enhance the features portrayed1 is theirs and not his1 his superiority of searching insight1 united with its equivalent of unique facility in definition1 seems more than to outweigh4 ,before he left for ,venice1 besides the renderings of himself already mentioned1 ,drer had painted his father twice1 in #adid and in #adig4 ,the latter was the pair to and compeer of his own portrait at ,madrid12 and1 hitherto unknown1 was lent last year by ,lord ,northampton to the ,royal ,academy1 and has since been bought for the ,national ,gallery4 ,this beautiful work is unique even among the works of the master1 and is not so much the worse for repainting as some make out4 ,the majority of ,drer's portraits stand alone4 ,in each the ,esthetic problem has been approached and solved in a strikingly different manner4 ,this picture and its fellow1 the portrait of the painter at ,madrid1 the ,oswolt ,krel1 the portrait of a lady seen against the sea at ,berlin1 the ,wolgemut1 and ,drer's own portrait at ,munich1 though seen by the same absorbing eyes1 are rendered each in quite a different manner4 ,no man has ever been better gifted for portraying a likeness than ,drer2 but the absence of a native comprehension of pigment made him ever restless1 and it might be possible to maintain that each of these pictures presented us with a differing strategy to enforce pigment1 to subserve the purposes of a draughtsman4 ,still this would seem to imply a greater sacrifice of ease and directness than those brilliant masterpieces can be charged with4 ,they none of them lack beauty of colour1 of surface1 or of handling1 though each so unlike the other4 ,in this portrait of his father1 ,drer has developed a shaken brushline1 admirably adapted to suggest the wrinkled features of an old man1 but in complete contrast to the rapid sweep of the caligraphic work in the ,oswolt ,krel2 and it is to be noticed how in both pictures the touch seems to have been invented to facilitate the rendering of the peculiar curves and lines of the sitter's features1 and further variations of it developed to express the draperies and other component parts of the picture4 ,it is this inventiveness in handling which most distinguishes ,drer from painters like ,raphael and ,holbein1 and makes his work comparable with the masterpieces of ,rembrandt and ,titian1 in spite of the extreme opposition in aspect between their work and his4 ,the noble portrait of a middle-aged man1 ,no4 #eeg;c1 in the ,royal ,gallery at ,berlin1 7supposed to represent ,frederick the ,wise1 ,elector of ,saxony1 ,drer's first patron71 gives us a master portrait1 in which the technical treatment is comparable to that of the early triptych at ,dresden1 and which is a monument of sober power and distinction1 though again very difficult to compare with the other splendid portraits by the same hand which hang beside or near it in that ,gallery4 ,the vivid ,oswolt ,krel at ,munich shows the peculiarity of ,drer's caligraphic touch better than perhaps any other of his portraits4 ,the finish is not carried so far as in the ,madrid portrait of himself1 where even the texture of the gloves has been softened by touches of the thumb1 and the absence of these extra refinements leaves it the most spontaneous and vigorously bold of all ,drer's paintings4 ,the concentrated energy of the sitter's features demanded such a treatment2 he seems to burn with the inconsiderate atheism of a ,marlowe4 ,young1 and less surprised than indignant to be alone awake in a sleepy and bigoted world1 he seems convinced of a mission to chastise1 even to scandalise his easy-going neighbours4 ,let us hope he met with better luck than the ,marlowes1 ,shelleys1 and ,rimbauds1 whose tragedies we have read2 for one can but regret1 as one meets his glance so much fiercer than need be1 that he is not known to history4 ,illustration3 ,oil ,portrait of a ,lady seen against the ,sea ,in the ,berlin ,gallery ,illustration3 ,oil portrait1 dated #aejf1 at ,hampton ,court ,the fine portrait of ,hans ,tucher1 #adii1 in the ,grand ,ducal ,museum at ,weimar should1 judging from a photograph alone1 be mentioned here4 ,it has obvious affinities with the ,oswolt ,krel1 but the caligraphic method is again modified in harmony with the character of the sitter's features4 ,the companion piece1 representing ,felicitas ,tucherin1 would seem at some period to have been restored to the insignificance and obscurity that belonged to the sitter before ,drer painted her4 ,,iv ,the portraits which ,drer painted at ,venice1 or soon after his return1 betray the influence of other masterpieces on his own4 ,mr4 ,ricketts has pointed to that of ,antonello da ,messina in the portraits of young men at ,vienna 7#aeje7 and at ,hampton ,court 7#aejf74 ,the former of these has an allegorical sketch of ,avarice1 painted on the back in a thick impasto1 such as seems almost a presage of after developments of the ,venetian school1 and may possibly show the influence of some early experiment by ,giorgione which ,drer wished to show that he could imitate if he liked4 ,the latter represents a personage who appears on the left of the ,feast of ,rose ,wreaths in exactly the same cap and with the same fastening to his jerkin1 crossing his white shirt 7see illustration opposite74 ,not improbably ,drer may have painted separate portraits of nearly all the members of the ,german ,guild at ,venice who appear in the ,rose ,garlands4 ,in any case much of his work during his stay there has disappeared4 ,it was here that he painted that beautiful head of a woman 7,no4 #eeg ,g in the ,berlin ,gallery7 with soft1 almost ,leonardesque shadows1 seen against the luminous hazy sea and sky1 which remains absolutely unique in method and effect among his works1 and makes one ask oneself unanswerable questions as to what might not have been the result if he could but have brought himself to accept the offered citizenship and salary1 and stop on at ,venice4 ,a ,drer1 not only secluded from ,luther and his troubling denunciations1 but living to see ,titian and ,giorgione's early masterpieces1 perhaps forming friendships with them1 and later visiting ,rome1 standing in the ,sistine ,chapel1 seated in the ,stanze between the ,school of ,athens and the ,disputa6 ,i at least cannot console myself for these missed opportunities1 as so many of his critics and biographers have done1 by saying that doubtless had he stayed he would have been spoiled like those second-class ,german and ,dutch painters1 for whom the siren art of ,italy proved a baneful influence4 ,one could almost weep to think of what has been probably lost to the world because ,drer could not bring himself to stay on at ,venice4 ,it was here he painted the tiny panel representing the head of a girl in gay apparel dated #aejg 7in the ,berlin ,gallery71 that makes one think1 even more than do ,holbein's ,venus and ,lais at ,basle1 of the triumphs that were reserved for ,italians in the treatment of similar subjects4 ,after his return the influence of ,venetian methods gradually waned1 till we find in the masterly and refined portrait of ,wolgemut 7#aeaf7 7see illustration72 something of a return to the caligraphic method so noticeable in the ,oswolt ,krel4 ,about the same time ,drer recommenced painting in tempera in a manner resembling the early ,dresden ,madonna and the ,hercules1 as we see by the rather unpleasant heads of ,apostles in the ,uffizi and the tine one of an old man in a vermilion cap in the ,louvre1 c4 c4 ,illustration3 ,bruckmann--,albrecht ,drer took this likeness of his master1 ,michael ,wolgemut1 in the year #aeaf1 and he was #hb years of age1 and lived to the year #aeai1 and then departed on ,saint ,andrew's ,day1 very early before sunrise--,oil-painting4 ,alt ,pinakothek1 ,munich ,illustration3 ,,hans ,,imhof 787--,from the painting in the ,royal ,gallery at ,madrid--7,by permission of ,messrs4 ,braun1 ,clment ,co41 ,dornach 7,alsace71 ,paris and ,new ,york7 ,v ,on his arrival at ,antwerp in #aeba ,drer commenced the third and last group of master-portraits2 foremost is the superb head and bust at ,madrid1 supposed to represent ,hans ,imhof1 a patrician of ,drer's native town and his banker while at ,antwerp2 of the same date are the triumphant renderings of the grave and youthful ,bernard van ,orley 7at ,dresden7 and that of a middle-aged man--lost for the ,national ,gallery1 and now in the possession of ,mrs4 ,gardner1 of ,boston4 ,all three were probably painted at ,antwerp4 ,it may be that the portrait of ,imhof and the report of the honours and commissions showered on their painter while in the ,netherlands1 woke the ,nuremberg ,councillors up1 for we have portraits of three of them dated #aebf--;,jacob ,muffel1 ,hieronymus ,holzschuher1 7both in the ,royal ,gallery1 ,berlin17 and the eccentric and unpleasing medallion representing ,johannes ,kleeberger1 at ,vienna4 ,with the exception of this last1 this group is composed of masterpieces absolutely unrivalled for intensity and dignity of power4 ,van ,eyck painted with inhuman indifference a few ugly grotesque but otherwise uninteresting people4 ,all but a very few of ,holbein's best portraits pale before these instances of searching insight2 and1 north of the ,alps at least1 there are no others which can be compared to them4 ,the ,hans ,imhof shows a shrewd and forbidding schemer for gain on a large scale--a face which produces the impression of a trap or closed strong box1 but1 being so alert and intelligent1 seems to demand some sort of commiseration for the constraint put upon its humanity in the creation of a master1 a tyrant over himself first and afterwards over an ever-widening circle of others4 ,the unknown master who is represented in ,mrs4 ,gardner's beautiful picture is less forbidding1 though not less patently a moulder of destiny4 ,jacob ,muffel has a more open face1 a more serene gaze2 but his mouth too has the firmness acquired by those who live always in the presence of enemies1 or are at least aware that a little folding of the hands may be fatal to all their most cherished purposes4 ,the last of these masters of themselves and of their fortunes in hazardous and change-fraught times is ,hieronymus ,holzschuher1 ,drer's friend4 ,only less felicitous because less harmonious in colour than the three former1 this vivacious portrait of a ruddy1 jovial1 and white-haired patrician seen against a bright blue background might produce the effect of a ,father ,christmas1 were it not for the resolute mouth and the puissant side-glance of the eyes4 ,bernard van ,orley1 the only youthful person immortalised in this group1 has a gentle1 responsible air which his features are a little too heavy to enhance4 ,i have now mentioned the chief of his portraits1 which are the best of his painting1 and by which he ranks for the directness and power of his workmanship and of his visual analysis in the company of the very greatest4 ,raphael and ,holbein have alone produced portraits which1 as they can be compared to ,drer's1 might also be held to rival them2 ,titian1 ,rubens1 ,velasquez1 ,rembrandt1 ,van ,dyck1 ,reynolds have done as splendidly1 but the material they used and the aims they set themselves were too different to make a comparison serviceable4 ,these men are pre-eminent among those who have produced portraits which1 while unsurpassed for technical excellences1 present to us individuals whose beauty or the character it expresses are equally exceptional4 ,illustration3 ,,jakob ,,muffel ,oil portrait in the ,berlin ,gallery ,,chapter ,,iii ,d,,rer',s ,,drawings ,i ,perhaps ,drer is more felicitous as a draughtsman than in any other branch of art4 ,the power of nearly all first-rate artists is more wholly live and effective in their drawings than in elaborated works4 ,drer himself says3 ,an artist of understanding and experience can show more of his great power and art in small things1 roughly and rudely done1 than many another in his great work4 ,powerful artists alone will understand that in this strange saying ,i speak truth4 ,for this reason a man may often draw something with his pen on a half sheet of paper in one day1 or cut it with his graver on a small block of wood1 and it shall be fuller of art and better than another's great work whereon he hath spent a whole year's careful labour4 ,but it is possible to go far beyond this and say not only another's great work1 but his own great work4 ,in the first chapter of this work ,i said that the standard in works of art is not truth but sincerity2 that if the artist tells us what he feels to be beautiful1 it does not matter how much or how little comparison it will bear with the actual objects represented4 ,and from this fact1 that sincerity not truth is of prime importance in matters of expression1 results the strange truth that ,drer says will be recognised by powerful artists alone 7see page #bbg74 ,any one who recognises how often the sketches and roughs of artists1 especially of those who are in a peculiar degree creators1 excel their finished works in those points which are the distinctive excellences of such men1 will grant this at once4 ,only to turn to the sketch 7inscribed ,memento ,mei #aeje7 of ,death on horseback with a scythe1 or the pen-portrait of ,drer leaning on his hand1 will be enough to convince those who alone can be convinced on these points4 ,for any who need to explain to themselves the character of such sketches--as the authoress of a recent little book on ,drer does that of the pen drawing in which the boy's chin rests on his hand by telling us that it is unfinished and was evidently discarded as a failure1--any who must be at such pains in a case of this sort is one of those who can never understand wherein the great power of a work of art resides4 ,such people may get great pleasure from works of art2 only ,i am content to remain convinced that the pleasure they get has no kind of kinship with that which ,i myself obtain1 or that which the greatest artists most constantly seek to give4 ,this marvellous portrait of himself as a lad of from seventeen to nineteen years of age is just one of those things roughly and rudely done1 of which ,drer speaks4 ,there is probably no parallel to it for mastery or power among works produced by artists so youthful4 ,illustration3 ,study of a hound for the copper engraving ,st4 ,eustache4 ,b4 #eg ,brush drawing at ,windsor ,there is often some virtue in spontaneity which is difficult to define2 perhaps it bears more convincing witness to the artist's integrity than slower and longer labours1 from which it is difficult to ward all duplicity of intention4 ,the finishing-touch is too often a ,judas' kiss4 ,blessed are the pure in heart is absolutely true in art4 7,of course1 ,i do not use purity in the narrow sense which is confined to avoidance of certain sensual subjects and seductive intentions47 ,it is only poverty of imagination which taboos subject-matter1 and lack of charity that believes there are themes which cannot be treated with any but ignoble intentions4 ,but the virtue in a spontaneous drawing is akin to that single devotion to whatever is best1 which true purity is2 as the refinement of economy which results in the finished work is akin to that delicate repugnance to all waste1 which is true chastity4 ,a sketch by ,rembrandt of a naked servant girl on a bed is as simple as the infancy of truth--as single in intention4 ,a ,greek statue of a raimentless ,apollo is pre-eminently chaste4 ,but it does not follow that ,rembrandt was in his life eminently pure1 or the ,greek sculptor signal for chastity4 ,drawings rapidly executed have often a lyrical1 rapturous1 exultant purity1 and are for that reason1 to those whose eyes are blinded neither by prejudice nor by misfortune1 as captivating as are healthy1 gleeful children to those whose hearts are free4 ,and while the joy that a child's glee gives is for a time1 that which a drawing gives may well be for ever4 ,we say a spirited sketch as we say a spirited horse2 but works of art are instinct with a vast variety of spirits and exert manifold influences4 ,it is a poverty of language which has confined the use of this word to one of the most obvious and least estimable4 ,it can be never too much insisted on that a work of art is something that exerts an influence1 and that its whole merit lies in the quality and degree of the influence exerted2 for those who are not moved by it1 it is no more than a written sentence to one who cannot read4 ,,ii ,many people in turning over a collection of ,drer's drawings would be constantly crying1 ,how marvellously realistic6 and would glow with enthusiasm and smile with gratitude for the perception which these words expressed4 ,others would say merely realistic2 and the words would convey1 if not disapprobation for something shocking1 at least indifference4 ,in both cases the word realistic would1 ,i take it1 mean that the objects which the pen1 brush1 or charcoal strokes represented were described with great particularity4 ,and in the first case delight would have been felt at recognising the fulness of detailed information conveyed about the objects drawn--that each drawing represented not a generalisation1 but an individual4 ,in the other case the mind would have been repelled by the infatuated insistence on insignificant or negligible details1 the absence of their classification and subordination to ideas4 ,the first of these two frames of mind is that of ,paul ,pry1 who is delighted to see1 to touch1 or behold1 for whom everything is a discovery2 and there are members of this class of temperament who in middle life continue to make the same discoveries every day with zest and a wonder equal to that which they felt when children4 ,the second of these frames of mind is that of the man with a system or in search of a system1 who desires to control1 or1 if he cannot do that1 at least to be taken into the confidence of the controller1 or to gain a position from which he can oversee him1 and approve or disapprove4 ,now neither of these judgments is in itself aesthetic1 or implies a comprehension of ,drer as an artist4 ,illustration3 ,,me-,,ento ,,mei1 #aeje4 ,from the drawing in the ,british ,museum ,the man who cries out3 ,just look how that is done6 ,who could have believed a single line could have expressed so much8 judges as an artist1 a craftsman4 ,the man who1 like ,jean ,francois ,millet1 exclaims3 ,how fine6 ,how grand6 ,how delicate6 ,how beautiful6 judges as a creator4 ,he sees that it is good4 ,an artist--a creator--may possess either or even both the two former temperaments2 but as an artist he must be governed by the latter two1 either singly or combined4 ,drer1 doubtless1 had a considerable share in all four of these points of view4 ,he delighted in objects as such1 in the new and the strange as new and strange1 in the intricate as intricate1 in the powerful as powerful4 ,and above all in his drawings does he manifest this direct and childish interest and curiosity4 ,he was also in search of a system1 of an intellectual key or plan of things2 and in the many drawings he devoted to explaining or developing his ideas of proportion1 of perspective1 of architecture1 he shows this bias strongly4 ,but nearly every drawing by him1 or attributed to him1 manifests the third of these temperaments4 ,the never-ceasing economy and daring of the invention displayed in his touch1 or1 as he would have said1 in his hand1 is almost as signal as his perfect assurance and composure4 ,and when one reflects that he was not1 like ,rembrandt1 an artist who made great or habitual use of the spaces of shade and light1 but that his workmanship is almost entirely confined to the expressive power of lines1 wonder is only increased4 ,of the fourth character that creates and estimates value1 though in certain works ,drer rises to supreme heights1 though in almost all his important works he appeases expectation1 yet often where he could surely have done much better he seems to have been content not to exert his rarest gifts1 but rather to play with or parade those that are secondary4 ,not only is this so in drawings like the ,dance of ,monkeys at ,basle1 done to content his friend the reformer ,felix ,frey 7see page #afh71 and in the borders designed to amuse ,maximilian during the hours that custom ordained he should pretend to give to prayer2 but there are drawings which were not apparently thrown as sops to the idleness of others1 but done to content some half-vacant mood of his own 7see ,lippmann1 #da1 #hc1 #cid1 #d4bj1 #ccc74 ,in such drawings the economy and daring of the strokes is always admirable1 can only be compared to that in drawings by ,rembrandt and ,hokusai2 but the occasion is often idle1 or treated with a condescension which well-nigh amounts to indifference4 ,there is no impressiveness of allure1 no intention in the proportions or disposition on the paper such as ,erasmus justly praised in the engravings on copper1 probably recollecting something which ,drer himself had said 7see page #ahf74 ,yet in his portrait heads the right proportions are nearly always found2 and in many cases ,i believe it is no one but the artist himself who has cut down such drawings after they were completed1 to find a more harmonious or impressive proportion 7see illustration opposite74 ,and often these drawings are as perfect in the harmony between the means employed and the aspect chosen1 and in the proportion between the head and the framing line and the spaces it encloses1 as ,holbein himself could have made them2 while they far surpass his best in brilliancy and intensity4 ,illustration3 ,drawing in black chalk heightened with white on reddish ground ,formerly in the collection at ,warwick ,castle ,illustration3 ,silver-point drawing on prepared grey ground1 in the collection of ,frederick ,locker1 ,esq4 ,,iii ,something must be said of ,drer's employment of the water-colours1 pen-and-ink1 silver-point1 charcoal1 chalk1 c41 with which he made his drawings4 ,he is a complete master of each and all these mediums1 in so far as the line or stroke may be regarded as the fundamental unit2 he is equally effective with the broad1 soft line of chalk 7see illustration1 page ,i471 or the broad broken charcoal line 7see illustration1 page ,,ii471 as with the fine pen stroke 7see illustration1 page ,,iii471 the delicate silver-point 7see illustration1 page ,,iv471 or the supple and tapering stroke produced by the camel's hair brush 7see illustration1 page ,v474 ,but when one comes to broad washes1 large masses of light and shade1 the expression of atmosphere1 of bloom1 of light1 he is wanting in proportion as these effects become vague1 cloudy1 indefinite1 mist-like4 ,his success lies rather in the definite reflections on polished surfaces2 he never reproduces for us the bloom on peach or flesh or petal4 ,he does not revel1 like ,rembrandt1 in the veils and mysteries of lucent atmosphere or muffling shadow4 ,the emotions for which such things produce the most harmonious surroundings he hardly ever attempts to appeal to2 he is mournful and compassionate1 or indignant1 for the sufferings1 of his ,man of ,sorrows2 not tender1 romantic1 or awesome4 ,only with the tapering tenuity and delicate spring of the pure line will he sometimes attain to an infantile or virginal freshness that is akin to the tenderness of the bloom on flowers1 or the light of dawn on an autumn morning4#ge ,in the same way1 when he is tragic1 it is not with thick clouds rent in the fury of their flight1 or with the light from shaken torches cast and scattered like spume-flakes from the angry waves2 nor is it with the accumulated night that gives intense significance to a single tranquil ray4 ,only by a ,rembrandt1 to whom these means are daily present1 could a subject like the ,massacre of the ,ten ,thousand have been treated with dramatic propriety2 unless1 indeed1 ,michael ,angelo1 in a grey dawn1 should have twisted and wrung with manifold pain a tribe of giants1 stark1 and herded in some leafless primeval valley4 ,with ,drer the occasion was merely one on which to coldly invent variations1 as though this human suffering was a motive for an arabesque4 ,yet even from the days when he copied ,andrea ,mantegna's struggling sea-monsters1 or when he drew the stern matured warrior angels of his ,apocalypse fighting1 with their historied faces like men hardened by deceptions practised upon them1 like men who have forbidden salt tears and clenched their teeth and closed their hearts1 who see1 who hate2 even from these early days1 the energy of his line was capable of all this1 and his spontaneous sense of arabesque could become menacing and explosive4 ,there are two or three drawings of angry1 crying cupids 7,lipp41 #aec and #ddf1 see illustration opposite71 prepared for some intended picture of the ,crucifixion1 where he has made the motive of the winged infants head1 usually associated with bliss and scattered rose-leaves1 become terrible and stormy4 ,and the ,agony in the ,garden1 etched on iron1 contains a tree tortured by the wind 7see illustration71 as marvellous for rhythm1 power1 and invention as the blast-whipped brambles and naked bushes that crest a scarped brow above the jealous husband who stabs his wife1 in ,titian's fresco at ,padua4 ,again1 the unspeakable tragedy of the stooping figure of ,jesus1 who is being dragged by ,his hair up the steps to ,annas' throne1 in the ,little ,passion1 is rendered by lines instinct with the highest dramatic power4 ,these are a draughtsman's creations2 though they are less abundant in ,drer's work than one could wish1 still only the greatest produce such effects2 only ,michael ,angelo1 ,titian1 and ,rembrandt can be said to have equalled or surpassed ,drer in this kind1 rarely though it be that he competes with them4 ,illustration3 ,,cherub ,,for ,a ,,crucifixion ,black chalk drawing heightened with white on a blue-grey paper ,in the collection of ,herr ,doctor ,blasius1 ,brunswick ,it is for the intense energy of his line1 combined with its unique assurance1 that ,drer is most remarkable4 ,the same amount of detail1 the same correctness in the articulation and relation between stem and leaf1 arm and hand1 or what not1 might be attained by an insipid workmanship with lifeless lines1 in patient drudgery4 ,it is this fact that those who praise art merely as an imitation constantly forget4 ,there is often as much invention in the way details are expressed by the strokes of pen or brush1 as there could be in the grouping of a crowd2 the deftness1 the economy of the touches1 counts for more in the inspiriting effect than the truth of the imitation4 ,a photograph from nature never conveys this1 the chief and most fundamental merit of art4 ,reynolds says3 ,rembrandt1 in older to take advantage of an accident1 appears often to have used the pallet-knife to lay his colours on the canvas instead of the pencil4 ,whether it is the knife or any other instrument1 it suffices1 if it is something that does not follow exactly the will4 ,accident1 in the hands of an artist who knows horn to take the advantage of its hints1 will often produce bold and capricious beauties of handling1 and facility such as he would not have thought of or ventured with his pencil1 under the regular restraint of his hand4#gf ,in such a sketch as the ,memento ,mei1 #aeje1 7,death riding on horseback17 all those who have sense for such things will perceive how the rough paper1 combined with the broken charcoal line1 lends itself to qualities of a precisely similar nature to those described by ,reynolds as obtained by ,rembrandt's use of the pallet-knife4 ,yet1 just as1 in the use of charcoal1 the something that does not follow exactly the will is infinitely more subtle than in the use of the palette-knife to represent rocks or stumps of trees1 so in the pen or silver-point line this element1 though reduced and refined till it is hardly perceptible1 still exists1 and ,drer takes the advantage of its hints4 ,and not only does he do' this1 but he foresees their occurrence1 and relies on them to render such things as crumpled skin1 as in the sketches for ,adam's hand holding the apple4 7,lipp4 #bcd74 ,the operation is so rapid1 so instantaneous1 that it must be called an instinct1 or at least a habit become second nature1 while in the instance chosen by ,reynolds1 it is obvious and can be imagined step by step2 but in every case it is this capacity to take advantage of the accident1 and foresee and calculate upon its probable occurrences1 that makes the handling of any material inventive1 bold1 and inimitable4 ,it is in these qualities that an artist is the scholar of the materials he employs1 and goes to school to the capacities of his own hand1 being taught both by their failure to obey his will here1 and by their facility in rendering his subtlest intentions there4 ,and when he has mastered all they have to teach him1 he can make their awkwardness and defects expressive2 as stammerers sometimes take advantage of their impediment so that in itself it becomes an element of eloquence1 of charm1 or even of explicitness2 while the extra attention rendered enables them to fetch about and dare to express things that the fluent would feel to be impossible and never attempt4 ,illustration3 ,,apollo ,,and ,,diana--,pen drawing in the ,british ,museum1 supposed to show the influence of the ,belvedere ,apollo ,,iv ,lastly1 it is in his drawings1 perhaps1 even more than in his copper engravings1 that ,drer proves himself a master of the art of seeing nature1 as ,reynolds phrased it2 and the following sentence makes clear what is meant1 for he says of painting perhaps it ought to be as far removed from the vulgar idea of imitation1 as the refined1 civilised state in which we live is removed from a gross state of nature2#gg and again3 ,if we suppose a view of nature1 represented with all the truth of the camera obscura1 and the same scene represented by a great artist1 how little and how mean will the one appear in comparison of the other1 where no superiority is supposed from the choice of the subject4#gh ,not only is outward nature infinitely varied1 infinitely composite2 but human nature--receptive and creative--is so too1 and after we have gazed at an object for a few moments1 we no longer see it the same as it was revealed to our first glance4 ,not only has its appearance changed for us1 but the effect that it produces on our emotions and intelligence is no longer the same4 ,each successful mind1 according to its degree of culture1 arrives finally at a perception of every class of objects presented to it which is most in agreement with its own nature--that is1 calls forth or nourishes its most cherished energies and efforts1 while harmonising with its choicest memories4 ,all objects in regard to which it cannot arrive at such a result oppress1 depress1 or even torment it4 ,at least this is the case with our highest and most creative moods2 but every man of parts has a vast range of moods1 descending from this to the almost vacant contemplation of a cow--the innocence of whose eye1 which perceives what is before it without transmuting it by recollection or creative effort1 must appear almost ideal to the up-to-date critic who has recently revealed the innocent confusion of his mind in a ponderous tome on nineteenth-century art4 ,the art of seeing nature1 then1 consists in being able to recognise how an object appears in harmony with any given mood2 and the artist must employ his materials to suggest that appearance with the least expenditure of painful effort4 ,the highest art sees all things in harmony with man's most elevated moods2 the lowest sees nature much as ,dutch painters and cows do4 ,now we can understand what ,goethe means when he says that ,albrecht ,drer enjoyed the advantages of a profound realistic perception1 and an affectionate human sympathy with all present conditions4 ,the man who continued to feel1 after he had become a ,lutheran1 the beauty of the art that honoured the ,virgin1 the man who cannot help laughing at the most lying1 thievish rascals whenever they talk to him because they know that their knavery is no secret1 but 'they don't mind1' is affectionate2 he is amused by monkeys and the rhinoceros2 he can bear with ,pirkheimer's bad temper2 he looks out of kindly eyes that allow their perception of strangeness or oddity to redeem the impression that might otherwise have been produced by vice1 or uncouthness1 or sullen frowns4 ,i have supposed that a realistic perception was one which saw things with great particularity2 and the words a profound realistic perception to ,goethe's mind probably conveyed the idea of such a perception1 in profound accord with human nature1 that is where the human recognition1 delight and acceptance followed the perception even to the smallest details1 without growing weary or failing to find at least a hope of significance in them4 ,if this was what the great critic meant1 those who turn over a collection of ,drer's drawings will feel that they are profoundly realistic 7realistic in a profoundly human sense71 and that their author enjoyed an affectionate human sympathy with all present conditions2 and by these two qualities is infinitely distinguished from all possessors of so-called innocent eyes1 whether quadruped or biped4 ,it is well to notice wherein this notion of ,goethe's differs from the conventional notions which make up everybody's criticism4 ,for instance1 ,in all his pictures he confined himself to facts1 says ,sir ,martin ,conway1#gi and then immediately qualifies this by adding1 ,he painted events as truly as his imagination could conceive them4 ,we may safely say that no painter of the first rank has ever confined himself to facts4 ,nor can we take the second sentence as it stands4 ,any one who looks at the ,trinity in the ,imperial ,gallery at ,vienna will see at once that the artist who painted it did not shut his eyes and try to conjure up a vision of the scene to be represented2 the ordering of the picture shows plainly throughout that a foregone conventional arrangement1 joined with the convenience of the methods of representation to be employed1 dictated nearly the whole composition1 and that the details1 costumes1 c41 were gradually added1 being chosen to enhance the congruity or variety of what was already given4 ,perhaps it was never a prime object with ,drer to conceive the event1 it was rather the picture that he attempted to conceive2 it is ,rembrandt who attempts to conceive events1 not ,drer4 ,he is very far from being a realist in this sense3 though certain of his etchings possess a considerable degree of such realism1 it is not what characterises him as a creator or inventor4 ,but a profound realistic perception almost unequalled he did possess2 what he saw he painted not as he saw it1 not where he saw it1 but as it appeared to him to really be4 ,so he painted real girls1 plain1 ugly or pretty as the case might be1 for angels1 and put them in the sky2 but for their wings he would draw on his fancy4 ,often the folds of a piece of drapery so delighted him that they are continued for their own sake and float out where there is no wind to support them1 or he would develop their intricacies beyond every possibility of conceivable train or other superfluity of real garments2 and it is this necessity to be richer and more magnificent than probability permits which brings us to the creator in ,drer2 not only had he a profound realistic perception of what the world was like1 but he had an imagination that suggested to him that many things could be played with1 embroidered upon1 made handsomer1 richer or more impressive4 ,when ,goethe adds that he was retarded by a gloomy fantasy devoid of form or foundation1 we perceive that the great critic is speaking petulantly or without sufficient knowledge4 ,drer's gloomy fantasy1 the grotesque element in his pictures and prints1 was not his own creation1 it is not peculiar to him1 he accepted it from tradition and custom 7see ,plate ,descent into ,hell74 ,what is really characteristic of him is the richness displayed in devils' scales and wings1 in curling hair or crumpled drapery1 or flame1 or smoke1 or cloud1 or halo2 and1 still more particularly1 his is the energy of line or fertility of invention with which all these are displayed1 and the dignity or austerity which results from the general proportion of the masses and main lines of his composition4 ,v ,for the illustration of this volume ,i have chosen a larger proportion of drawings than of any other class of work2 both because ,drer's drawings are less widely known than his engravings on metal1 and because1 though his fame may perhaps rest almost equally on these latter1 and they may rightly be considered more unique in character1 yet his drawings show the splendid creativeness of his handling of materials in greater variety4 ,one engraving on copper is like another in the essential problem that it offered to the craftsman to resolve2 but every different medium in which ,drer made drawings1 and every variety of surface on which he drew1 offered a different problem1 and perhaps no other artist can compare with him in the great variety of such problems which he has solved with felicity4 ,and this power of his to modify his method with changing conditions is1 as we have seen1 from the technical side the highest and greatest quality that an artist can possess4 ,it only fails him when he has to deal with oil paintings1 and even there he shows a corresponding sense of the nature of the problems involved1 if he shows less felicity on the whole in solving them2 and perhaps could he have stayed at ,venice and have had the results of ,giorgione's and ,titian's experiments to suggest the right road1 we should have been scarcely able to perceive that he was less gifted as a painter than as draughtsman4 ,as it is1 he has given us water-colour sketches in which the blot is used to render the foliage of trees in a manner till then unprecedented4 7,lipp4 #acb1 c47 ,he can rival ,watteau in the use of soft chalk1 ,leonardo in the use of the pen1 and ,van ,eyck in the use of the brush point2 and there are examples of every intermediate treatment to form a chain across the gulf that separates these widely differing modes of graphic expression4 ,there can be no need to point the application of these remarks to the individual drawings here reproduced2 those who are capable of recognising it will do so without difficulty4 ,illustration3 ,,an ,,old ,,castle ,body-dour drawing at ,bremen ,,vi ,in conclusion1 ,drer appears as a draughtsman of unrivalled powers4 ,and when one looks on his drawings as what they most truly were1 his preparation for the tasks set him by the conditions of his life1 there is room for nothing but unmixed admiration4 ,it is only when one asks whether those tasks might not have been more worthy of such high gifts that one is conscious of deficiency or misfortune4 ,and can one help asking whether the ,emperor ,max might not have given ,drer his ,bible or his ,virgil to illustrate1 instead of demanding to have the borders of his ,book of ,hours rendered amusing with fantastic and curious arabesques2 whether ,drer's learned friends1 instead of requiring from him recondite or ceremonious allegories1 might not have demanded title-pages of classic propriety2 or whether the imperial bent of his own imagination might not have rendered their demands malleable1 and bid them call for a series of woodcuts1 engravings or drawings1 which could rival ,rembrandt's etchings in significance of subject-matter and imaginative treatment1 as they rival them in executive power8 ,in his portraits--the large majority of which have come down to us only as drawings1 the majority of which were never anything else--the demand made upon him was worthy2 but even here ,holbein1 a man of lesser gift and power1 has perhaps succeeded in leaving a more dignified1 a more satisfying series2 one containing1 if not so many masterpieces1 fewer on which an accidental or trivial subject or mood has left its impress4 ,yet1 in spite of this1 it is ,drer's1 not ,rembrandt's1 not ,holbein's character1 that impresses us as most serious1 most worthy to be held as a model4 ,it is before his portrait of himself that ,mr4 ,ricketts forgets all other portraits whatsoever1 in the sense that this perfect realisation of one of the world's greatest men is worthy of the occasion4 ,so that we feel bound to attribute our dissatisfaction to something in his circumstances having hindered and hampered the flow of what was finest in his nature into his work4 ,from ,venice he wrote3 ,i am a gentleman here1 but only a hanger-on at home4 ,germany was a better home for a great character1 a great personality1 than for a great artist3 ,drer the artist was never quite at home there1 never a gentleman among his peers4 ,the good and solid burghers rated him as a good and solid burgher1 worth so much per annum2 never as endowed with the rank of his unique gift4 ,it was only at ,venice and ,antwerp that he was welcomed as the ,albert ,drer whom we to-day know1 love1 and honour4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #ge3 ,see the exquisite landscape in the collection of ,mr4 ,c4 ,s4 ,ricketts and ,mr4 ,c4 ,h4 ,shannon1 reproduced in the sixth folio of the ,drer ,society1 #aijc4 ,mr4 ,campbell ,dodgson describes the drawing as in a measure spoilt by retouching1 but what convinces him that these retouches are not by ,drer8 ,the pen-work seems to be at once too clever and too careless to have been added by another hand to preserve a fading drawing4 ,footnote #gf3 ,,xii4 ,discourse4 ,footnote #gg3 ,,xiii1 ,discourse4 ,footnote #gh3 ,ibid4 ,footnote #gi3 ,literary ,remains of ,albrecht ,drer1 p4 ,i #ej4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,d,,rer',s ,,metal ,,engravings ,i ,for the artist or designer the chief difference between the engraving done on a wood block and that done on metal lies in the thickness of the line4 ,the engraved line in a wood block is in relief1 that on a metal plate is entrenched2 the ink in the one case is applied to the crest of a ridge1 in the other it fills a groove into which the surface of the paper is squeezed4 ,though lines almost as fine as those possible on metal have been achieved by wood engravers1 in doing this they force the nature of their medium1 whereas on a copper plate fine lines come naturally4 ,perhaps no section of ,drer's work reveals his unique powers so thoroughly as his engravings on metal4 ,they were entirely his own work both in design and execution2 and no expenditure of pains or patience seems to have limited his intentions1 or to have hindered his execution or rendered it less vital4 ,and perhaps it is this fact which witnesses with our spirit and bids us recognise the master3 rather than the comprehension of natural forms which he evinces1 subtle and vigorous though it be2 or than the symbols and types which he composed from such forms for the traditional and novel ideas of his day4 ,and this unweariable assiduity of his is continually employed in the discovery of very noble arabesques of line and patterns in black and white1 more varied than the grain in satin wood or the clustering and dispersion of the stars4 ,intensity of application1 constancy of purpose1 when revealed to us by beautifully variegated surfaces1 the result of human toil1 may well impress us1 may rightly impress us1 more than quaint and antiquated notions about the four temperaments1 or about witches and their sabbaths1 or about virtues and vices embodied in misconceptions of the characters of pagan divinities1 and in legends about them which scholars had just begun to translate with great difficulty and very ill4 ,it is the astonishing assurance of the central human will for perfection that awes us2 this perception that flinches at no difficulty1 this perception of how greatly beauty deserves to be embodied in human creations and given permanence to4 ,,ii ,in the encomium which ,erasmus wrote of ,albert ,drer he dealt1 as one sees by the passage quoted 7p4 #ahf71 with ,drer's engraved work almost exclusively4 ,perhaps the great humanist had seen no paintings by ,drer1 and very likely had heard ,drer himself disparage them1 as ,melanchthon tells us was his wont 7p4 #ahg74 ,we know that ,drer gave ,erasmus some of his engravings1 and we may feel sure that he was questioned pretty closely as to what were the aims of his art1 and wherein he seemed to himself to have best succeeded4 ,the sentence ,i underlined 7on p4 #ahf7 gives us probably some reflection of ,drer's reply4 ,we must remember that ,erasmus1 from his classical knowledge as to how ,apelles was praised1 was full of the idea that art was an imitation1 and may probably have refused to understand what ,drer may very likely have told him in modification of this view2 or he may by citing his ,greek and ,latin sources have prevented the reverent ,drer from being outspoken on the point4 ,but though most of his praise seems mere literary commonplace1 the sentence underlined strikes us as having another source4 ,he reproduces not merely the natural aspect of a thing1 but also observes the laws of perfect symmetry and harmony with regard to the position of it4 ,how one would like to have heard ,drer1 as ,erasmus may probably have heard him1 explain the principles on which he composed6 ,no doubt there is no very radical difference between his sense of composition and that of other great artists4 ,but to hear one so preoccupied with explaining his processes to himself discourse on this difficult subject would be great gain4 ,for though there are doubtless no absolute rules1 and the appeal is always to a refined sense for proportion1--yet to hear a creator speak of such things is to have this sense1 as it were1 washed and rendered delicate once more4 ,we can but regret that ,erasmus has not saved us something fuller than this hint4 ,in the same way1 how tempting is the criticism that ,camerarius gives of ,mantegna1--we feel that ,drer's own is behind it2 but as it stands it is disjointed and absurd1 like some of the incomplete and confused parables which give us a glimpse of how much more was lost than was preserved by the reporters of the sayings of ,jesus4 ,it is the same thing with the reported sayings of ,michael ,angelo1 and indeed of all other great men4 ,it is impossible to accept his hand was not trained to follow the perception and nimbleness of his mind as ,drer's dictum on ,mantegna2 but how suggestive is the allusion to broken and scattered statues set up as examples of art1 for artists to form themselves upon6 ,yet the fact that ,drer missed coming into contact not only with ,mantegna but with ,titian1 ,leonardo1 ,raphael1 ,michael ,angelo1 is indeed the saddest fact in regard to his life4 ,we can well believe that he felt it in ,mantegna's case4 ,ah6 ,why could he not bring himself to accept the overtures made to him1 and become a citizen of ,venice8 ,,iii ,the subjects of these engravings are even generally trivial or antiquated1 either in themselves or by the way they are approached4 ,perhaps alone among them the figure of ,jesus1 as it is drawn in the various series on copper and wood illustrating the ,passion1 is conceived in a manner which touches us to-day with the directness of a revelation2 and even this cannot be compared to the same figure in ,rembrandt etchings and drawings1 either for essential adequacy1 or for various and convincing application4 ,no1 we must consent to let the expression great thoughts drop out of our appreciation of ,drer's works1 and be replaced by the great character latent in them4 ,however1 one among ,drer's engravings on copper stands out from among the rest1 and indeed from all his works4 ,in the ,melancholy the composition is not more dignified in its spacing and proportion2 the arabesque of line is not richer or sweeter1 the variations from black to white are not more handsome1 than in some half dozen of his other engravings4 ,no1 by its conception alone the ,melancholy attains to its unique impressiveness4 ,and it is the impressiveness of an image1 not the impressiveness of an idea or situation1 as in the case of the ,knight1 ,death1 and the ,devil1 by which almost as much bad literature has been inspired4 ,there is nothing to choose between the workmanship of the two plates2 both are absolutely impeccable1 and outside the work of ,drer himself1 unrivalled4 ,the ,melancholy is the only creation by a ,german which appears to me to invite and sustain comparison with the works of the greatest ,italian4 ,in it we have the impressiveness that belongs only to the image1 the thing conceived for mental vision1 and addressed to the eye exclusively4 ,if there was an allegory1 or if the plate formed 7as has been imagined7 one of a series representative of the four temperaments1 the eye and the visual imagination are addressed with such force and felicity that the inquiries which attempt to answer these questions must for ever appear impertinent4 ,they may add some languid interest to the contemplation which is sated with admiring the impeccable mastery of the ,knight2 for that plate always seems to me the mere illustration of a literary idea1 a sheer statement of items which require to be connected by some story1 and some of which have the crude obviousness of folk-lore symbols1 without their racy and genial navety4 ,they have not been fused in the rapture of some unique mood1 not focussed by the intensity of an emotion4 ,with the ,melancholy all is different2 perhaps among all his works only ,drer's most haunting portrait of himself has an equal or even similar power to bind us in its spell4 ,for this reason ,i attempt the following comparison between the ,sibyls of the ,sistine ,chapel and the ,melancholy a comparison which ,i do not suppose to have any other value or force than that of a stimulant to the imagination which the works themselves address4 ,illustration3 ,,melancholia ,copper engraving1 ,b4 #gd ,the impetuosity of his ,southern blood drives ,michael ,angelo to betray his intention of impressing in the pose and build of his ,sibyls4 ,large and exceptional women1 limbed and thewed as gods are1 with an habitual command of gesture1 they lift down or open their books or unwind their scrolls like those accustomed to be the cynosure of many eyes1 who have lived before crowds of inferiors1 a spectacle of dignity from their childhood upwards4 ,on the other hand1 the pose and build of the ,melancholy must have been those of many a matron in ,nuremberg4 ,it is not till we come to the face that we find traits that correspond with the obvious symbolism of the wings and wreath1 or the serious richness of the black and white effect of the composition2 but that face holds our attention as not even the ,sibylla ,delphica cannot by beauty1 not by conscious inspiration1 but by the spell of unanswerable thought1 by the power to brood1 by the patience that can and dare go unresolved for many years4 ,everything is begun about her2 she cannot see unto the end2 she is powerful1 she is capable in many works1 she has borne children1 she rests from her labours1 and her thought wanders1 sleeps or dreams4 ,the spirit of the ,north1 with its industry1 its cool-headed calculation1 its abundance in contrivance1 its elaboration of duty and accumulation of possessions--there she sits1 absorbed1 unsatisfied4 ,impetuosity and the frank avowal of intention are themselves an expression of the will to create that which is desirable2 they can but form the habit of every artist under happy circumstances4 ,they proceed on the expectation of immediate effectiveness1 they belong to power in action2 while1 if beauty be not impetuous1 she is frank1 and adds to the avowal of her intention the promise of its fulfilment4 ,the work of art and the artist are essentially open2 they promise intimacy1 and fulfil that promise with entirety when successful4 ,nor is anything so impressive as intimacy which implies a perfect sincerity1 a complete revelation1 a gift without reserve1 increase without let4 ,but the circumstances of the artist never are happy3 even ,michael ,angelo's were not4 ,an intense brooding melancholy arises from the repressed and baffled desire to create2 and in some measure this gloom of failure underlying their success is a necessary character of all lovely and spiritual creations in this world4 ,now ,michael ,angelo's works1 because of their ,southern impetuosity and volubility1 are not so instinct with this divine sorrow1 this immobility of the soul face to face with evil1 as is ,drer's ,melancholy4 ,he inspires and exhilarates us more1 but takes us out of ourselves rather than leads us home4 ,here is ,drer's success3 let and hindered as it really is1 he makes us feel the inalienable constancy of rational desire1 watching adverse circumstance as one beast of prey watches another4 ,she keeps hold on the bird she has caught1 the ideal that perhaps she will never fully enjoy4 ,michael ,angelo pictures for us freedom from trammels1 the freedom that action1 thought and ecstasy give1 the freedom that is granted to beauty by all who recognise it2 ,drer shows us the constancy that bridges the intervals between such free hours1 that gives continuity to man's necessarily spasmodic effort4 ,thus he typifies for us the ,northern genius3 as ,michael ,angelo's athletes might typify by their naked beauty and the unexplained impressiveness of their gestures1 the genius of the sudden ,south--sudden in action1 sudden in thought1 suddenly mature1 suddenly asleep--as day changes to night and night to day the more rapidly as the tropics are approached4 ,illustration3 ,detail enlarged from the ,agony in the ,garden4 ,etching on ,iron1 ,b4 #ai ,between pp4 #bej #bea ,illustration3 ,,angel ,,with ,,the ,,sudarium ,engraving in ,iron1 #aeaf4 ,b4 #bf ,between pp4 #bej #bea ,instances of the highest imaginative power are rare in ,drer's work4 ,the ,melancholy has had a world-wide success4 ,the ,knight1 ,death and the ,devil has one almost equal1 but which is based on the facility with which it is associated with certain ideas dear to ,christian culture1 rather than on the creation of the mood in which these ideas arise4 ,it does not move us until we know that it is an illustration of ,erasmus's ,christian ,knight4 ,then all its dignity and mastery and the supremacy of the gifts employed on it are brought into touch with the idea1 and each admirer operates1 according to his imaginativeness1 something of the transformation which ,drer had let slip or cool down before realising it4 ,,iv ,among the prints with lesser reputations are several which attain a far higher success4 ,there is the iron plate of the ,agony in the ,garden1 ,b4 #ai1 already mentioned 7p4 #bce71 in which the storm-tortured tree and the broken light and shade are full of dramatic power 7see illustration71 the ,angel with the ,sudarium1 ,b4 #bf1 where the arabesque of the folds of drapery and cloud unite with the daring invention of the central figure to create a mood entirely consonant with the subject4 ,there is the woman carried off by a man on an unicorn1 in which the turbulence of the subject is expressed with unrivalled force by the rich and beautiful arabesque and black and white pattern4 ,b4 ,nos4 #d1 #e1 #f1 #h1 #i1 #aj1 #aa1 #ad1 #af1 #ah1 of the ,little ,passion1 on copper1 are all of them noteworthy successes of more or less the same kind2 and in these1 too1 we come upon that racy sense for narration which can enhance dramatic import by emphasising some seemingly trivial circumstance1 as in the gouty stiffness of one of ,christ's scourgers in the ,flagellation1 or the abnormal ugliness of the man who with such perfect gravity holds the basin while ,pilate washes his hands3 while in the ,crown of ,thorns and ,descent into ,hades we have peculiarly fine and suitable black and white patterns1 and in the ,peter and ,john at the ,beautiful ,gate#hj and the ,ecce ,homo figures of monumental dignity in tiny gems of glowing engraver's work4 ,the repose and serenity of the lovely little ,st4 ,antony2#ha the subsidence of commotion in the noonday victory of the little ,st4 ,george on foot1 ,b4 #ec--perhaps the most perfect diamond in the whole brilliant chain of little plates1 or the staid navety of the enchanting ,apollo and ,diana1 ,b4 #fh2hb who shall prefer among these things8 ,every time we go through them we choose out another until we return to the most popular and slightly obvious ,st4 ,george on ,horseback1 ,b4 #ed4 ,next come the dainty series of little plates in honour of ,our ,lady the ,mother of ,god1 commencing before ,drer made a rule of dating his plates2 before #aejc and continuing till after #aebj1 in which the last are the least worthy4 ,among these the ,virgin embracing her ,child at the foot of a tree1 ,b4 #cd1 dated #aeac2 ,the ,virgin standing on the crescent moon1 her baby in one arm1 her sceptre in the other hand and the stars of her crown blown sideways as she bows her head1 ,b4 #cb1 dated #aeaf1 and the stately and monumental ,virgin seated by a wall1 ,b4 #dj1 dated #aead1 are at present my favourites4 ,and to these succeeded the noble army of ,apostles and ,martyrs of which the more part are dated from #aeba to #aebf1 though two1 ,b4 #dh and #ej1 fall as early as #aead4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,small ,,horse--,copper ,engraving1 ,b4 #if ,then amongst the most perfect larger plates ,i cannot refrain from mentioning the ,st4 ,jerome1 ,b4 #fj1 with its homely seclusion as of ,drer's own best parlour in summer time which not even the presence of a lion can disturb2 the idyllic and captivating ,st4 ,hubert1 ,b4 #eg2 the august and tranquil ,cannon1 ,b4 #ii3 and lastly1 perhaps1 in the little ,horse1 ,b4 #if1 we come upon a theme and motive of the kind best suited to ,drer's peculiar powers1 in which he produces an effect really comparable to those of the old ,greek masters1 about whose lost works he was so eager for scraps of information1 and whose fame haunted him even into his slumbers1 so that he dreamed of them and of those who should give a future to their past4 ,this delightful work may illustrate an allegory now grown dark or some misconception of a ,grecian story2 but though the relation between the items that compose it should remain for ever unexplained1 its beauty1 like that of some ,greek sculpture that has been admired under many names1 continues its spell1 and speaks of how the simplicity1 austerity and noble proportions of classical art were potent with the spirit of the great ,nuremberg artist1 and occasionally had free way with him1 in spite of all there was in his circumstances and origins to impede or divert them4 7,see also the spirited drawing1 ,lipp4 #cff47 ,v ,it would be idle to attempt to say something about every masterpiece in ,drer's splendidly copious work on metal plates4 ,there is perhaps not one of these engravings that is not vital upon one side or another1 amazingly few that are not vital upon many4 ,one other work1 however1 which has been much criticised and generally misunderstood1 it may be as well to examine at more length1 especially as it illustrates what was often ,drer's practice in regard to his theories about proportion1 with which my next ,part will deal4 ,i speak of the ,great ,fortune or ,nemesis 7,b4 #gg74 ,his practice at other times is illustrated by the splendid ,adam and ,eve 7,b4 #a71 over the production of which the nature of the canon he suggested was perhaps first thoroughly worked out4 ,but before this and afterwards too he no doubt frequently followed the advice he gives in the following passage4 ,to him that setteth himself to draw figures according to this book1 not being well taught beforehand1 the matter will at first become hard4 ,let him then put a man before him1 who agreeth1 as nearly as may be1 with the proportions he desireth2 and let him draw him in outline according to his knowledge and power4 ,and a man is held to have done well if he attain accurately to copy a figure according to the life1 so that his drawing resembleth the figure and is like unto nature4 ,and in particular if the thing copied as beautiful2 then is the copy held to be artistic1 and1 as it deserveth1 it is highly praised4 ,drer himself would seem to have very often followed his own advice in this4 ,the ,great ,fortune or ,nemesis is a case in point4 ,the remarks of critics on this superb engraving are very strange and wide4 ,professor ,thausing said1 ,embodied in this powerful female form1 the ,northern worship of nature here makes its first conscious and triumphant appearance in the history of art4 ,with the work of the great ,jan ,van ,eyck in one's mind's eye1 of course this will appear one of those little lapses of memory so convenient to ,german national sentiment4 ,everything that1 according to our aesthetic formalism based on the antique1 we should consider beautiful1 is sacrificed to truth4 7,i have already pointed out that this use of the word truth in matters of art constitutes a fallacy7#hc ,and yet our taste must bow before the imperishable fidelity to nature displayed in these forms1 the fulness of life that animates these limbs4 ,of course1 imperishable fidelity to nature and taste that bows before it are merely the figures of a clumsy rhetoric4 ,but the idea they imply is one of the most common of vulgar errors in regard to works of art4 ,in the first place one must remind our enthusiastic ,german that it is an engraving and not a woman that we are discussing2 and that this engraving is extremely beautiful in arabesque and black and white pattern1 rich1 rhythmical and harmonious2 and that there is no reason why our taste should be violated in having to bow submissively before such beauties as these1 which it is a pleasure to worship4 ,now we come to the subject as presented to the intelligence1 after the quick receptive eye has been satiated with beauty4 ,our ,german guide exclaims1 ,not misled by cold definite rules of proportion1 he gave himself up to unrestrained realism in the presentation of the female form4 ,our first remark is1 that though the treatment of this female form may perhaps be called realistic1 this adjective cannot be made to apply to the figure as a whole4 ,this massively built matron is winged2 she stands on a small globe suspended in the heavens1 which have opened and are furled up like a garment in a manner entirely conventional4 ,she carries a scarf which behaves as no fabric known to me would behave even under such exceptional and thrilling circumstances4 ,dr4 ,carl ,giehlow has recently suggested that this splendid engraving illustrates the following ,latin verses by ,poliziano3 ,est dea1 quse vacuo sublimis in are pendens ,it nimbo succincta latus1 sed candida pallam1 ,sed radiata comam1 ac stridentibus insonat alis4 ,haec spes immodicas premit1 haec infesta superbis ,imminet1 huic celsas hominum contundere mentes ,incessusque datum et nimios turbare paratus4 ,quam veteres ,nemesin genitam de nocte silenti ,oceano discere patri4 ,stant sidera fronti4 ,frena manu pateramque gerit1 semperque verendum ,ridet et insanis obstat contraria coeptis4 ,improba vota domans ac summis ima revolvens ,miscet et alterna nostros vice temperat actus4 ,atque hue atque illuc ventorum turbine fertur4 ,there is a goddess1 who1 aloft in the empty air1 advances girdled about with a cloud1 but with a shining white cloak and a glory in her hair1 and makes a rushing with her wings4 ,she it is who crushes extravagant hopes1 who threatens the proud1 to whom is given to beat down the haughty spirit and the haughty step1 and to confound over-great possessions4 ,her the men of old called ,nemesis1 born to ,ocean from the womb of silent ,night4 ,stars stand upon her forehead4 ,in her hand she bears bridles and a chalice1 and smiles for ever with an awful smile1 and stands resisting mad designs4 ,turning to nought the prayers of the wicked and setting the low above the high she puts one in the other's place and rules the scenes of life with alternation4 ,and she is borne hither and thither on the wings of the whirlwind4 ,if this suggestion is a good one it shows us that ,drer was no more consistently literal than he was realistic4 ,the most striking features of his illustration are just those to which his text offers no counterpart1 i4e41 the nudity and physical maturity of his goddess4 ,neither has he girdled her about with cloud nor stood stars upon her forehead4 ,i must confess that ,i find it hard to believe that there was any close connection present to his mind between his engraving and these verses4 ,in a former chapter ,i have spoken of the fashion in female dress then prevalent2 how it underlined whatever is most essential in the physical attributes of womanhood1 and how probably something of good taste is shown in this fashion 7see pp4 #ib and #ic74 ,what ,i there said will explain ,drer's choice in this matter2 and also that what ,thausing felt bow in him was not taste1 but his prejudices in regard to womanly attractiveness1 and his misconception as to where the beauty of an engraving should be looked for and in what it consists4 ,these same prejudices and misconceptions render ,mrs4 ,heaton 7as is only natural in one of the weaker sex7 very bold4 ,she says1 ,a large naked winged woman1 whose ugliness is perfectly repulsive4 ,this object1 ,i must confess1 appears to me1 a coarse male1 welcome to contemplation of the mind and eye4 ,the splendid ,venus in ,titian's ,sacred and ,profane ,love1 or his ,ariadne at ,madrid2 or ,raphael's ,galatea2 or ,michael ,angelo's ,eve 7on the ,sistine vault7 are all of them doubtless far more akin to the ,aphrodite of ,praxiteles1 or to her who crouches in the ,louvre1 than is this ,nemesis2 but we must not forget that they are works on a scale more comparable with a marble statue2 and that in works of which the scale is more similar to that of our engraving1 ,greek taste was often far more with ,drer than with ,thausing4 ,this is an important point1 though one which is rarely appreciated4 ,however1 there is no reason why we should condemn misled by cold definite rules of taste even such pictures as ,rembrandt's ,bathing ,woman in the ,louvre1 though here the proportions of the work are heroic4 ,oil painting was an art not practised by the ,greeks1 and this medium lends itself to beauties which their materials put entirely out of reach4 ,besides1 ,rembrandt appealed to an audience who had been educated by ,christian ideals to appreciate a pathos produced by the juxtaposition of the fact with the ideal1 and of the creature with the creator1 to appeal to which a ,greek would have had to be far more circumspect in his address--even if he had1 through an exceptional docility and receptiveness of character1 come under its influence himself4 ,these considerations when apprehended will1 ,i believe1 suffice to dispel both prejudice and misconception in regard to this matter2 and we shall find in ,professor ,thausing's remarks relative to the treatment of the female form divine in this engraving no additional reason for considering it a comparatively early work4 ,and we shall only smile when he tells us ,the ,nemesis to a certain degree 7sic7 marks the extreme point 7sic7 reached by ,drer in his unbiased study of the nude4 ,his further progress became more and more influenced by his researches into the proportions of the human body4 ,the bias will appear to us of rather more recent date1 and we shall be ready to consider with an open mind how far ,drer's practice was influenced for good or evil by his researches into the proportions of the human body4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #hj3 ,see page #beh4 ,footnote #ha3 ,see page #bfj4 ,footnote #hb3 ,see ,frontispiece4 ,footnote #hc3 ,see page #ai4 ,,chapter ,v ,d,,rer',s ,,woodcuts ,it is now generally accepted that ,drer did not himself engrave on wood4 ,in his earliest blocks he shows a greater respect for the limitations of this means of expression than later on4 ,the earliest wood blocks1 though no doubt they aimed at being facsimiles1 were not such in fact2 but the engraver took certain liberties for his own convenience1 and probably did not attempt to render what ,drer calls the hand of the designer4 ,the hand was equivalent to what modern artists call the touch1 and meant the peculiar character recognisable in the vast majority of the strokes or marks which each artist uses in drawing or painting4 ,drer affected extremely curved and rapid strokes1 ,mantegna the deliberate straight line1 ,rembrandt the straight stroke used so as to seem a continual improvisation2 though indeed he varies the character of his touch more continually and more vastly than any other master1 yet in his drawings and etchings the majority of the strokes are straight4 ,already in the woodcuts provided by ,michael ,wolgemut1 ,drer's master1 to illustrate books1 there is a general attempt to render cross hatching3 and the eyes and hair1 though still those of an engraver1 are frequently modified to some extent in deference to the character given by the draughtsman4 ,still1 no one with practical experience would consider these woodcuts as adequate facsimiles3 which makes the question of their attribution to ,wolgemut1 or his partner and step-son1 ,pleydenwurff1 of still less interest and importance than it is on all other grounds4 ,so conscious an exception as the soul of the accurate ,albert ,drer was1 could not be expected to endure a partner in his creations1 especially one whose character was revealed chiefly by the clumsy compromises convenient to lack of skill4 ,doubtless the demand for his hand was a new factor in the education of the engraver1 as constant and as imperturbable as the action of a copious stream1 which1 having its source in lonely heights1 wears a channel through the hardest rock1 the most sullen soils4 ,it may have been the pitiless tyranny of the master's will for perfection which drove ,hieronymus ,andreae1 the most famous of ,drer's wood engravers1 into religious and even civil rebellion1 joining hands with levelling fanatics and taking active part in the ,peasant ,war4 ,drer probably would have commanded too much reverence and affection for these rebellions to be directed against him2 but an insupportably heavy yoke is not rendered lighter because it is imposed by a loved hand1--though every other burden and restraint may in such a case be shaken off and resented before that which is the real cause of oppression4 ,drer's wood cutters had no doubt to resign any indolence1 any impatience1 or whatever else it might be that had otherwise stamped a personal character on their work2 and all remonstrance must have been shamed by the evident fact that the young master spared himself not a whit more4 ,the perseverance and docility which made such engraving possible was perhaps the greatest aid that ,drer drew from ,german character2 it was not only an aid1 but an example to and restraint upon that haughty spirit of his that restively ever again vows never to take so much pains over another picture to be so poorly paid 7see page #ajc72 that complains of failure and discouragement after years of repeatedly more world-wide successes 7see page #ahg74 ,these are not ,german traits1 but it may have been the ,german blood he inherited from his mother and the example of his friends1 fellow-workers1 and helpers1 which enabled him to get the better of such petulant and gloomy outbursts1 and return to the day of small things with the will to continue and endure4 ,the difference introduced by the engravers becoming more and more capable of rendering ,drer's hand is well illustrated by comparing the frontispiece to the ,apocalypse1 added about #aeaa1 with the other cuts which had appeared in #adih4 ,doubtless ,drer's hand had changed its character considerably during this period of constant and rapid development1 and it requires tact and knowledge to separate the differences due to the creator from those due to the engraver4 ,drer's drawings differed as widely from the earlier drawings as does the engraving from the earlier blocks4 ,but1 as we may see by early drawings done as preliminary studies for engravings1 the method of his pen strokes had changed less than the character of the forms they rendered2 the conception of the design as a whole had advanced more rapidly than the skill and sleight of hand which expressed it4 ,the engraver has by #aeaa become capable of expressing a greater variety of speed in the stroke1 makes it taper more finely1 and can follow the tongue-like lap and flicker as the pen rises and dips again before leaving the surface of the block 7as in the outer ends of the strokes that represent the radiance of the ,virgin's glory74 ,holbein1 later on1 was to obtain a yet more wonderful fidelity from ,lutzelburger1 the engraver of his ,dunce of ,death4 ,still it were misleading to suppose that ,drer's disregard for the facilities and limitations of wood-cutting went the lengths that the demands made upon modern skill have gone4 ,not only has the line been reproduced1 but it has been drawn not with a full pen or brush1 but in pencil or with watered ink2 and the delicate tones thus produced have been demanded of and rendered by human skill4 ,drer always uses a clear definite stroke2 and in thus limiting himself he shows an appreciation of the medium to be used in reproducing his drawing1 and recognises its limits to a large extent1 though this is the only limitation he accepts4 ,less and less does he consider the possibilities which engraving offers for the use of a white line on black ,doing his drawing with a black line1 he contents himself with the qualities that the resources and facilities of the full pen line give3 and his design is for a drawing which can be cut on wood1 not for something that first really exists in the print2 the prints are copies of his drawings4 ,his drawings were not prepared to receive additions in the course of cutting1 such as could only be rendered by the engraver4 ,faithfulness was the only virtue he required of ,hieronymus ,andreae4 ,yet even in such drawings as ,drer's no doubt were1 there would have been some qualities1 some defects perhaps1 that the print does not possess4 ,for a print1 from the mode of inking1 has a breadth and unity which the drawing never can have4 ,even in drawings made with full flowing brush or pen1 there will be modulations in the strength of the ink1 or occasioned by the surface of the wood or paper1 in every stroke1 by which the1 sensitive artist in the heat of work cannot help being influenced1 and which will lead him to give a bloom1 a delicacy1 to his drawing1 such as a print can never possess4 ,and1 on the other hand1 the unity of the print can never be quite realised in the drawing1 however much the artist may strive to attain it1 because the conditions must change1 however slightly1 for strokes produced in succession2 while in a print all are produced together1 and variations1 if variations there are1 occur over wide spaces and not between stroke and stroke4 ,it is considerations1 of this kind that in the last resort determine the quality of works of art4 ,the artist is taught1 though often unconsciously1 by the means he employs1 but the diligent man who is not by nature an artist never can learn these things3 he can ,imitate the manner and form1 never the grace1 the bloom1 and the life4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,apocalypse1 #adih ,st4 ,michael fighting the ,dragon1 ,woodcut1 ,b4 #gb ,from the impression in the ,british ,museum ,face p4 #bfb ,,ii ,drer's first important issue of woodcuts was the ,apocalypse4 ,a great deal has been written in praise of this production as a political pamphlet against the corrupt ,papacy4 ,it was undoubtedly the most important series of woodcuts that had ever appeared1 by the size1 number and elaboration of the designs4 ,it also undoubtedly attacks ecclesiastical corruption1 but not ecclesiastical only4 ,whether to ,drer and his friends it appeared even chiefly directed against prelates1 or even against those who sat in high places2 whether the popes1 bishops and figures typical of the ,church seemed to him to illustrate the moral in any pre-eminent degree1 may be doubted4 ,still more doubtful is it whether there was any objection to papacy or priesthood as institutions connected with these figures in his mind4 ,unworthy popes1 unworthy bishops1 and an unworthy ,rome were censured3 but not popes1 bishops1 or ,rome as the capital see of the ,church4 ,drer's work as a whole shows no distaste for saints1 the ,virgin1 or bishops and popes2 he had no objection1 no scruple apparently1 to introducing the notorious ,julius ,,ii4 into his ,feast of the ,rosary1 some ten years later4 ,there has perhaps been a tendency to read the intention of these designs too much in the light of after events3 and by so doing a great slur is cast on ,drer's consistency2 for1 had these designs the significance read into them1 he must be supposed an altogether convinced enemy of the ,church2 and the tremendous salaams which he afterwards made to her in far more important works ought1 to logical minds1 to appear horribly insincere4 ,viewed as works of art1 one reads about the cut of the four riders upon horses1 ,for simple grandeur this justly famous design has never been surpassed4 ,one's sense of proportion receives such a shock as gives one the sensation of being utterly outcast1 in a world where such a precious dictum can pass without remark as a sample of the discrimination of the chief authority on the life and art of ,albert ,drer4 ,neither simple nor grand is an adjective applicable to this print in the sense in which we apply it to the chief masterpieces of antiquity and of the ,renaissance4 ,to say even that ,drer never surpassed this design is to utter what to me at least seems the most palpable absurdity4 ,there is an immense advance in design1 in conception and in mastery of every kind shown over the best prints of the ,apocalypse and ,great ,passion1 in the prints added to the latter series ten years later1 and still more in the ,life of the ,virgin4 ,and still finer results are arrived at in single cuts of later date1 and in the ,little ,passion4 ,if we want to see what ,drer's woodcuts at their finest are for breadth and dignity of composition1 for richness and fertility of arabesque and black and white pattern1 for vigour and subtlety of form1 for boldness and vivacity of workmanship1 we must turn to the ,samson 7#adig87 7,b4 #b71 the ,man's ,bath 7#ad-871 7,b4 #abh71 among the earlier blocks published before the ,apocalypse1 then to those designed in or about the year #aeaa4 ,the golden period for ,drer's woodcuts1 the date of the publication of his most magnificent series1 the ,life of the ,virgin and several delightful separate prints4 ,among these we find it hard to choose1 but if some must be mentioned let it be the ,st4 ,joachim's ,offering ,rejected by the ,high ,priest 7,b4 #gg71 the ,meeting at the ,golden ,gate 7,b4 #gi7 7see illustration71 the ,marriage of the ,virgin 7,b4 #hb71 the ,visitation 7,b4 #hd71 the ,nativity 7,b4 #he7 7see illustration71 the ,presentation 7,b4 #ee71 the ,flight into ,egypt 7,b4 #hi74 ,illustration3 ,detail enlarged from ,nativity4--,life of the ,virgin ,woodcut1 ,b4 #he ,illustration3 ,enlarged detail from ,the ,embrace of ,st4 ,joachim and ,st4 ,anne at the ,golden ,gate4--,life of the ,virgin1 ,woodcut1 ,b4 #gi ,in the glorious masterpieces of this series ,drer has found the true balance of his powers4 ,the dignity and charm of the decorative effect of these cuts has never been surpassed2 and to the racy narrative vivacity of such groups and figures as those isolated and enlarged in our illustration there is added an idyllic charm of which perhaps the best examples are the ,visitation and the ,flight into ,egypt4 ,this sweetness of allure is still more pervasive in the separate cuts that bear this golden date1 #aeaa1 that is in the ,st4 ,christopher 7,b4 #ajc71 and the ,st4 ,jerome 7,b4 #aad74 ,and the ,adoration of the ,magi 7,b4 #c7 is much finer than the one included in the ,life of the ,virgin4 ,this idyllic charm had already been touched upon before in the ,assumption of the ,magdalen 7,b4 #aba7 7#ae871 and in the ,st4 ,antony and ,st4 ,paul and the ,baptist and ,st4 ,onuphrius of #aejd4 ,it is not felt to lie very deep in the conception of the subject1 for all are treated in an obviously conventional manner1 the touches of racy realism being confined to subordinate incidents and details4 ,neither the subjects nor the mood of the artist lend themselves to the dramatic impressiveness of such cuts as the ,blowing of the ,sixth ,trumpet or the ,st4 ,michael overwhelming the ,dragon of the ,apocalypse 7see page #bfb71 where the inspiration appears to be ,gothic1 perhaps developed under the influence of ,mantegna's ,combat between ,sea ,monsters1 of which ,drer early made an elaborate pen-and-ink copy4 ,we find an aftermath of the same inspiration in the engraving on iron1 dated #aeaf1 representing a man riding astride of an unicorn carrying off a shrieking woman4 ,such stormy and strenuous lowerings of the imagination break in upon ,drer's habitual mood as ,st4 ,peter's thunders into ,milton's ,lycidas1 of which the general felicitous mingling of a conventional pedantry with idyllic charm and racy touches of realistic effect is very similar to the general effect of the golden group we have been describing4 ,among all the work that finds its climax in the beautiful creations of #aeaa1 only in a few prints of the ,little ,passion1 published in #aeaa1 do we find any dramatic power or creativeness of essential conception4 ,i may mention the ,christ ,scourging the ,money-changers in the ,temple1 the ,agony in the ,garden1 and ,judas' ,kiss1 where1 though the general effect be rather confused1 the central figure is full of appropriate power4 ,christ haled by the hair before ,annas 7the most wonderful of all71 ,christ before ,pilate1 ,christ ,mocked1 the ,ecce ,homo 7a most beautiful composition71 the ,veronica's napkin incident1 ,christ being nailed to the ,cross 7a masterpiece71 the ,deposition1 the ,entombment3--several others of the series have idyllic charm or touches of narrative force which link them with the general group1 but these alone stand out and in some ways surpass it4 ,after this date ,drer seems in a great measure to have relinquished wood for metal engraving2 however1 most of his occasional resumptions of the process were marked by the production of masterpieces1 if we put on one side the workshop monsters produced for ,maximilian--and even in these1 in details1 ,drer's full force is recognisable4 ,i may mention the ,madonna crowned and worshipped by a concert of ,angels1 #aeah 7,b4 #aja71 which1 though a little cold1 like all the work of that period1 is still a masterpiece2 and then1 after the inspiriting visit to ,antwerp1 we have the magnificent portrait of ,ulrich ,varnbler1 #aebb 7,b4 #aee71 the ,last ,supper1 #aebc 7,b4 #ec7 7see illustration here71 and the glorious piece of decoration representing ,drer's ,arms1 #aebc 7,b4 #afj7 7see illustration74 ,i have reproduced less of ,drer's wood engravings than would be necessary to represent their importance and beauty1 because most1 being large and bold1 are greatly impoverished by reduction2 besides1 they are nearly all well known through comparatively cheap reproductions4 ,i have enlarged two details to give an idea of ,drer's workmanship when employed upon racy realism 7see illustration1 page #bfd71 and when employed in endowing a single figure with supreme grace and dignity 7see illustration1 page #bfe74 ,illustration3 ,christ haled before ,annas ,from the ,little ,passion--,between pp4 #bff #bfg ,illustration3 ,d,,rer',s ,,armorial ,,bearings ,woodcut1 ,b4 #afj ,,chapter ,,vi ,d,,rer',s ,,influences ,,and ,,verses ,i ,before closing this part of my book something must be said of ,drer's influence on other artists4 ,it is one of the foibles of modern criticism to please itself by tracing influences1 a process of the same nature as that of tracing resemblances to ferns and other growths on a frosted pane4 ,no one would deny that resemblances are there2 it is to distinguish them and estimate their significance without yielding to fancifulness1 which is the well-nigh hopeless task4 ,it is often forgotten that similar circumstances produce similar effects1 and that coincidences from this cause are very rife4 ,then1 too1 it is forgotten that the influence that produces rivalry is stronger1 more important1 and less easily estimated1 than that which is expressed by imitation or plagiarism2 besides1 it affects more original and fertile natures4 ,the stimulus of a great creative personality often is more potent where discernible resemblances are few and vague1 than where they are many and obvious4 ,in ,drer's day the study and imitation of antique art which had brought about the ,renascence in ,italy was the fashion that in successive waves was passing over ,europe and moulding the future4 ,he himself felt it1 and welcomed it now as an authority not to be gainsaid1 and again as an example to be competed against and surpassed4 ,this fashion1 this trend of opinion and hope1 was the significance behind the effect produced on him by ,jacopo de' ,barbari1 whose charming but ineffectual originality succeeded merely in creating an eddy in that stream4 ,it was the tide behind him which so powerfully stirred and stimulated ,drer4 ,the resemblances traceable between certain still life studies by the two men1 or even in figures of their engravings1 is insignificant compared with the fact that through ,jacopo ,drer probably first felt the energy and true direction of the great tidal waves which were then rolling forth from ,italy4 ,even ,mantegna's influence was probably less the effect of a personal affinity than that through him a power streamed direct from the antique dawn4 ,this great and master influence of those days was more one of hope1 indefinite1 incomprehensible1 visionary1 than one of knowledge and assured discovery4 ,raphael may have received it from ,drer1 as well as ,drer from ,bellini4 ,figures and incidents from ,drer's engravings are supposed to have been adapted in certain works1 if not of his own hand at least proceeding from his immediate pupils4 ,for ,raphael1 ,drer was a proof of the excellence of human nature in respect to the arts1 even when it could not form itself on the immediate study and contemplation of antiques1 and thus added to the zest and expectation with which he improved himself in that direction4 ,these great men did not distinguish clearly between pregnancy due to their own efforts1 that of their contemporaries and immediate predecessors1 and that due to their more mystic passion for antiquity4 ,michael ,angelo1 ,titian1 and ,correggio were destined to be the signets by which this great power was to be most often and clearly stamped on the work of future artists4 ,from the unhappy location of his life ,drer was debarred from any such obvious and overwhelming effect on after generations4 ,the influences which helped to shape him were no doubt at work on all the more eminent artists1 his fellow-countrymen2 on ,albrecht ,altdorfer1 ,hans ,burgkmair1 ,lucas ,cranach1 or ,baldung ,grien1 to mention only the elect4 ,what the stimulus of his achievements1 of his renown1 meant for these men we have no means of computing2 yet we may feel sure that it was vastly more important and significant than any actual traces of imitation or plagiarism from his works1 which can with difficulty and for the more part very doubtfully be brought home to them2--vastly more important and significant too we may be sure than his effect upon his pupils and other more or less obscure painters1 engravers1 and block designers1 in whose work actual imitation or adaption of his creations is more certain and more abundant4 ,his pictures1 plates1 and woodcuts were copied both in ,italy and in the ,north1 both as exercises for the self-improvement of artists and to supply a demand for even secondhand reflections of his genius and skill4 ,he was not destined to lend the impress of his splendid personality to the tide of fashion like the great ,italians2 their influence was to supersede his even in the ,north4 ,this is obvious3 but who shall compare or estimate the accession of force which the tide as a whole gained from him1 or that more latent power which begins to be disengaged from the reserve and lack of proper issue from which he evidently suffered1 now that the great tide of the ,renaissance has spent its mighty onrush and become merged in the constant movement of life--that power by which he moves us to commiserate his circumstances and to feel after the more and better1 which we cannot doubt that he might have given us had he been more happily situated8 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,last ,,supper ,woodcut1 p4 #ec ,,ii ,only to compare the value of ,michael ,angelo's sonnets with that of the doggerel rhymes which ,drer produced1 may give us some idea of the portentous inferiority in ,drer's surroundings to those of the great ,italian4 ,both borrow the general idea of the subject1 treatment1 and form of their poems from the fashion around them4 ,but that fashion in ,michael ,angelo's case called for elevated subject1 intimate and imaginative treatment1 and adequacy of form1 whereas none of these were called for from ,albrecht ,drer2 and if his friends laughed at the rudeness of his verses1 it was not that they themselves conceived of anything more adequate in these respects1 only something more scholarly1 more pedantic4 ,michael ,angelo's verse was often crabbed and rude1 but the scholarship and pedantry of ,italy forbore to laugh at that rudeness1 because a more adequate standard made them recognise its vital power and noble passion as of higher importance to true success4 ,still1 in the following rhymes1 ,drer shows himself a true child of the ,renascence1 at least in intention2 and was proud of a desire for universal excellence4 ,when ,i received this from ,lazarus ,spengler1 ,i made him the following poem in reply 7,mrs4 ,heaton's translation73 ,in ,nrnberg it is known full well ,a man of letters now doth dwell1 ,one of our ,lord's most useful men1 ,he is so clever with his pen1 ,and others knows so well to hit1 ,and make ridiculous with wit2 ,and he has made a jest of me1 ,because ,i made some poetry1 ,and of ,true ,wisdom something wrote1 ,but as he likes my verses not1 ,he makes a laughing stock of me1 ,and says ,i'm like the ,cobbler1 he ,who criticised ,apelles' art4 ,with this he tries to make me smart1 ,because he thinks it is for me ,to paint1 and not write poetry4 ,but ,i have undertaken this 7,and will not stop for him or his71 ,to learn whatever thing ,i can1 ,for which will blame me no wise man4 ,for he who only learns one thing1 ,and to naught else his mind doth bring1 ,to him1 as to the notary1 ,it haps1 who lived here as do we1 ,in this our town4 ,to him was known ,to write one form and one alone4 ,two men came to him with a need ,that he should draw them up a deed2 ,and he proceeded very well1 ,until their names he came to spell3 ,gotz was the first name that perplexed1 ,and ,rosenstammen was the next4 ,the ,notary was much astonished1 ,and thus his clients he admonished1 ,dear friends1 he said1 you must be wrong1 ,these names don't to my form belong2 ,franz and ,fritz#hd ,i know full well1 ,but of no others have heard tell4 ,and so he drove away his clients1 ,and people mocked his little science4 ,to me that it may hap not so1 ,something of all things ,i will know4 ,not only writing will ,i do1 ,but learn to practise physic too2 ,till men surprised will say1 ,beshrew me1 ,what good this painter's medicines do me6 ,therefore hear and ,i will tell ,some wise receipts to keep you well4 ,a little drop of alkali1 ,is good to put into the eye2 ,he who finds it hard to hear1 ,should mandel-oil put in his ear2 ,and he who would from gout be free1 ,not wine but water drink should he2 ,he who would live to be a hundred1 ,will see my counsel has not blundered4 ,therefore ,i will still make rhymes ,though my friend may laugh at times4 ,so the ,painter with hairy beard ,says to the ,writer who mocked and jeered4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #hd3 ,equivalent to our ,john ,doe and ,richard ,roe4 ,,part ,,iv ,d,,rer',s ,,ideas ,illustration ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,idea ,,of ,a ,,canon ,,of ,,proportion ,,for ,,the ,,human ,,figure ,drer often painted the ,virgin's head as a mere exercise or example in those proportion studies with which we must presently deal4 ,sir ,w4 ,m4 ,,conway1 in ,drer's ,literary ,remains1 p4 #aea4 ,as soon as he comes to speak of the very essence of artistic work1 he forgets theories and imitations of the antique2 he knows nothing of composition from fragments of ,nature1 of measurements and speculations4 ,no longer trusting to such aids as these1 but launching himself boldly on the broad stream of ,nature1 he believes that he shall attain to a higher harmony in his work4 ,,thausing',s ,albert ,drer1 vol4 ii41 p4 #cah4 ,i ,the idea of a canon for human proportions has proved a great stumbling-block for so-called classical or academic artists4 ,it is usually taken to mean an absolutely right or harmonious proportion1 any deviation from which cannot fail to result in a diminution of beauty4 ,according to their thoroughness1 the devotees of this idea seek to arrive at such a scale of proportions for a varying number of different ages in either sex2 often even modifying this again for diverse types1 as tall or short1 fat or lean1 dark or blonde1 but allowing no excessive variation for these causes2 so that abnormally tall people and dwarfs are not considered4 ,this is1 ,i take it1 what the great artist ,albert ,drer is generally taken to have been aiming at in his books on proportion4 ,it will not be difficult1 ,i think1 to show that ,drer had quite a different idea of what a canon of proportion should be1 and how it should be applied4 ,and certainly1 had it been possible to study ,greek practice more closely1 and in a larger number of examples1 when this idea 7supposed to be drawn from that source7 was chiefly mooted1 a very different notion of the canon of proportion would have been forced on the most academical of theorists4 ,drer's great superiority over such academical masters is1 that his idea of a canon of proportion and its use agrees far better with what was apparently ,greek practice4 ,any one who has followed at all the interesting attempts made by ,professor ,furtwngler and others to group together1 by attention to the measurements of the different parts of the figure1 works belonging to the different masters1 schools1 and centres1 will have perceived that he is led to assume a traditional canon of proportion from which a master deviates slightly in the direction of some bias of his own mind towards closer knit or more slim figures2 such variations being in the earlier stages very slight4 ,again1 it is supposed that from the canon followed by a master1 different pupils may branch off in opposite directions according to the leanings of their personal sentiment for beauty4 ,the conception of these ramifications has at least created the hope that critics may follow them through a great number of complications1 since a master may modify his canon--after certain pupils have already struck out for themselves1 and new pupils may start from his modified canon2 and so on into an infinite criss-cross of branches1 as any sculptor may be influenced to modify his canon by his fellows or by the masters of other schools whose work he comes across later4 ,in any case1 this main fact arises1 that the canon appears as what the artist deviated from1 not what he abided by3 and any one who has any feeling for the infinite nicety of the results obtained by ,greek sculptors will easily apprehend that each masterpiece established a new and slightly different canon1 and was then in the position to be in its turn again deviated from1 as ,flaubert says3 ,the conception of every work of art carries within it its own rule and method1 which must be found out before it can be achieved4 ,chayue ceuvre faire a sa potique en soi1 qu'il faut trouver4 ,,ii ,the same thing is asserted by literary critics to have been the cause of the repetition of subjects in ,greek tragedy1 and to have resulted in the infinite niceties of their forms1 which are never the same and never radically new4 ,the terrible old mythic story on which the drama was founded stood1 before he entered the theatre1 traced in its bare outlines upon the spectator's mind2 it stood in his memory as a group of statuary1 faintly seen1 at the end of a long dark vista4 ,then came the poet1 embodying outlines1 developing situations1 not a word wasted1 not a sentiment capriciously thrown in4 ,stroke upon stroke1 the drama proceeded2 the light deepened upon the group2 more and more it revealed itself to the riveted gaze of the spectator2 until at last1 when the final words were spoken1 it stood before him in broad sunlight1 a model of immortal beauty4 ,this passage from ,matthew ,arnold's deservedly famous preface well emphasises one advantage that a tradition of subject and treatment gave to the ,greek poet as to the ,greek sculptor3 the economy of means it made possible1 not a word wasted1 not a sentiment capriciously thrown in1--since every deviation from1 every addition to1 the traditional story and treatment1 was immediately appreciated by an audience thoroughly conversant with that tradition1 and often with several previous masterpieces treating it4 ,by merely leaving out an incident1 or omitting to appeal to a sentiment1 a ,greek tragedian could flood his whole work with a new significance4 ,so that the temptation to be eccentric1 the temptation to hit too hard or at random because he was not sure of exactly where the mind stood that he would impress1 did not exist in anything like the same degree for him as it did for ,shakespeare and ,michael ,angelo as it does for romantic and origina natures to-day4 ,the absence of a sufficient body of traditional culture belonging to every educated person tends always to force the artist to commence by teaching the alphabet to his public4 ,as ,coleridge so justly remarked in the case of ,wordsworth3 ,he had1 like all great artists1 to create the taste by which he was to be relished1 to teach the art by which he was to be seen and judged4 ,all great artists no doubt have to do this1 but the modern artist is in the position of the ,israelite who was bidden not only to make bricks1 but to find himself in stubble and straw1 as compared with a ,greek who could appeal to traditional conceptions with certainty4 ,dr4 ,verrall is no doubt right when he says3 ,every one knows1 even if the full significance of the fact is not always sufficiently estimated1 that the tragedians of ,athens did not tell their story at all as the telling of a story is conceived by a modern dramatist1 whose audience1 when the curtain goes up1 know nothing which is not in the play-bill4 ,this ignorant public1 this uncultivated and unmanured field with which every modern artist has to commence1 is the greatest let to the creator4 ,what wonder that he should so often prefer to make a gaudy show with yellow weeds1 when he perceives that there is hardly time in one man's life to produce a respectable crop of wheat from such a wilderness8 ,the story of an ,athenian tragedy is never completely told2 it is implied1 or1 to repeat the expression used above1 it is illustrated by a selected scene or scenes4 ,and the further we go back the truer this is1 continues ,dr4 ,verrall2 and the same was doubtless true of sculpture and painting4 ,it is impossible to over-estimate the importance or advantage of this fact to the artist4 ,for religious art1 for art that appeals to the sum and total of a man's experience of beauty in life1 a public cultivated in this sense is a necessity4 ,giotto and ,fra ,angelico enjoyed this almost to the same degree as schylus or ,phidias2 ,michael ,angelo and the great artists of the ,renascence generally enjoyed it in a very great degree1 and reaped an advantage comparable to that which ,euripides and his contemporaries and immediate successors enjoyed4 ,the tradition enabled such an artist to impress by means of subtleties1 niceties1 and refinements1 instead of forcing him to attempt always to more or less seduce1 astonish or overawe2 strong measures which grow almost necessarily into bad habits1 and end by perverting the taste they created4 ,this1 it has often been remarked1 was the case even with ,michael ,angelo1 even with ,shakespeare4 ,yet nowadays1 to enable a man to remark this1 exceptional culture is required4 ,,iii ,this idea of the use of a canon may be illustrated in many ways2 for1 like all notions which resume actual experiences1 it will be found applicable in many spheres4 ,thus1 on the subject of verse1 the eternal quarrel between the poet and the pedant is1 that for the first the rules of prosody and rhyme are only useful in so far as they make the licenses he takes appreciable at their just value2 while for the pedant such licenses ever anew seem to imply ignorance of the rule or incapacity to follow it1--an absurd mistake1 since the power to create and impress has little to do with the means employed2 and if a man builds up for himself a barrier of foregone conclusions about the exact manner in which alone he will allow himself to be deeply impressed1 it is very certain he will have few save painful impressions4 ,or take another illustration--an artist the other day told me that he had noticed that one could almost always trace a faintly ruled vertical line on the paper which the greatest of all modern draughtsmen used4 ,ingres1 then1 with all his freedom1 vivacity1 and accuracy of control over the point he employed to draw with1 still found it useful to have a straight line ruled on his paper as a student does1 and may often even have resorted to the plumb-line4 ,it enabled his eye to test the subtlest deviations in the other lines with which he was creating the balance1 swing or stability of a figure4 ,rules of art are1 like this straight line1 dead and powerless in themselves3 they help both creator and lover to follow and appreciate the infinite freedom and subtlety of the living work4 ,the same thing might be illustrated with regard to manners2 a fine standard of social address and receptivity must be established before the varieties and subtleties of those whose genius creates beautiful relations can be appreciated at their full value in their full variety4 ,this dead law must be buried in everybody's mind and heart before they can rise to that conscious freedom which is opposite to the freedom of the wild animals1 who never know why they do1 nor appreciate how it is done2 neither are they able to rejoice in the address of others2 much less can they relish the infinite refinements of exhilarating apprehension1 which make of laughter1 tears1 speech1 silence1 nearness and distance1 a music which holds the enraptured soul in ecstasy2 which created and constantly renews the hope of ,heaven4 ,and what blacker minister of a more sterile hell than the social pedant who only knows the rule1 and mistakes grace and delicacy1 frankness and generosity1 for more or less grave infractions of it8 ,but the happy critic1 free from any personal knowledge of what creation means1 or what aids are likely to forward it1 is for ever in such a hurry to correct great creators like ,leonardo1 ,drer1 or ,hokusai1 that he fails to understand them2 and when he has caught them saying1 ,this is how anger or despair is expressed1 calmly smiles in his superiority and says1 ,he had a scientific law for putting a battle on to canvas1 one condition of which was that 'there must not be a level spot which is not trampled with gore4' ,but ,leonardo did no harm2 his canon was based on literary rather than artistic interests4 ,analogies with scientific laws have served art and art criticism a very bad turn of late years4 ,nothing can be more useful to an artist than knowledge of how the emotions are expressed by the contortion of the features2 but nobody in his senses could ever imagine that a rule for the expression of anger was rigid throughout and must never be departed from2 every one approaching such a rule with a view to practice instead of criticism must immediately perceive that its only use is to be departed from in various degrees4 ,leonardo's advice for the painting of a battle-piece is excellent if it is understood in the sense in which it was meant1--everything is what it is and not another thing1 as ,bishop ,butler put it4 ,be sure and make your battle a battle indeed4 ,it is time we should realise that what the great artists wrote about art is likely to be as sensible as are the works they created4 ,how absurd it is for some one who can neither carve nor paint1 much less create1 to imagine he easily grasps the rules of art better than a great master6 ,to such people let us repeat again and again ,hamlet's impatient3 ,oh1 mend it altogether6 ,,iv ,now it will easily be seen that the causes which shape an art tradition may often be independent of1 and foreign to1 the will that creates beautiful objects4 ,religious superstition or formalism may often hem the artist in1 and hamper his will in every direction2 though it is not wholly accidental that the ,greeks had a religion the spirit of which tended always to defeat the conservatism and bigotry of its priests4 ,so that their formalism1 instead of frustrating or warping the growth of their art tradition1 merely served as a check that may well seem to have been exactly proportioned to its need2 preventing the weakness or rankness of over rapid growth such as detracts from the art of the ,renascence1 and at the same time causing no vital injury4 ,the spirit of the race deserved and created and was again in turn recreated by its religion4 ,since it is generally recognised that too much freedom is not good for growing life1 ,i think that almost everybody must at this stage have become aware of how immensely stupid the academical idea of a canon appears besides this idea4 ,how suitable both to life and the desire for perfection the ,greek practice was6 ,how theologically dense the unprogressive inflexibility of the academical practitioner6 ,and now let us hear ,drer4 ,but first ,i will quote from ,sir ,martin ,conway the explanation of what ,drer means by the phrase1 ,words of ,difference4 ,these are what he calls the ,words of ,difference3 large1 long1 small1 stout1 broad1 thick1 narrow1 thin1 young1 old1 fat1 lean1 pretty1 ugly1 hard1 soft1 and so forth2 in fact any word descriptive of a quality whereby a thing may be differentiated from the thing 7normal figure7 first made4 ,or1 as ,drer says in another place1 difference such as maketh a thing fair or foul4 ,but further1 it lieth in each man's choice whether or how far he shall make use of all the above written ,words of ,difference4 ,for a man may choose whether he will learn to labour with art1 wherein is the truth1 or without art in a freedom by which everything he doth is corrupted1 and his toil becometh a scorn to look upon to such as understand4 ,wherefore it is needful for every one that he use discreetness in such of his works as shall come to the light ,whence it ariseth that he who would make anything aright must in no wise abate aught 7that is essential7 from ,nature1 neither must he lay what is intolerable upon her4 ,howbeit some will 7by going to an opposite extreme7 make alterations 7from ,nature7 so slight that they can scarce be perceived4 ,such are of no account if they cannot be perceived2 to alter over much also answereth not4 ,a right mean 7in such alterations7 is best4 ,but in this book ,i have departed from this right mean in order that it might be so much the better traced in small things4 ,let not him who wishes to proceed to some great thing imitate this my swiftness1 but let him set more slowly 7gradually7 about his work1 that it be not brutish but artistic to look upon4 ,for figures which differ from the mean are not good to look upon when they are wrongly and unmasterly employed4 ,it is not to be wondered at that a skilful master beholdeth manifold differences of figure1 all of which he might make if he had time enough1 but which1 for lack of time1 he is forced to pass by4 ,for such chances come very often to artists1 and their imaginations also are full of figures which it were possible for them to make4 ,wherefore1 if to live many hundred years were granted unto a man who had skill in the use of such art and were thereto accustomed1 he would 7through the power which ,god hath granted unto men7 have wherewith daily to mould and make many new figures of men and other creatures1 which none had before seen nor imagined4 ,god1 therefore1 in such and other ways granteth great power unto artistic men4 ,although there be such talking of differences1 still it is well known that all things that a man doth differ of their own nature one from another4 ,consequently1 there liveth no artist so sure of hand as to be able to make two things exactly alike the one to the other1 so that they may not be distinguished4 ,for of all our works none is quite and altogether like another1 and this we can in no wise avoid4 ,we see that if we take two prints from an engraved copper-plate1 or cast two images in a mould1 very many points may immediately be found whereby they may be distinguished one from another4 ,if1 then1 it cometh thus to pass in things made by processes the least liable to error1 much more will it happen in other things which are made by the free hand4 ,this1 however1 is not the kind of ,difference whereof ,i here treat2 for ,i am speaking of a difference 7from the mean7 which a man specially intendeth1 and which standeth in his will1 of which ,i have spoken once and again4444 ,this is not the aforesaid ,difference which we cannot sever from our work1 but1 such a difference as maketh a thing fair or foul1 and which may be set forth by the ,word of ,difference dealt with above in this ,book4 ,if a man produce different figures of this kind in his work1 it will be judged in every man's mind according to his own opinion1 and these judgments seldom agree one with another4444 ,yet let every man beware that he make nothing impossible and inadmissible in ,nature1 unless indeed he would make some fantasy1 in which it is allowed to mingle creatures of all kinds together4444 ,any one who leads this carefully cannot fail to see that it is not only that ,drer is not desirous of laying down rules applicable to all cases1 or even of proposing a definite canon for the relative proportions of the human body1 as ,thausing indeed points out 7p4 #cje1 v4 #aa73 but that he does not conceive the proportions he gives as even approximately capable of these functions2 and considers it indeed the very nature and special use of a canon of proportions to be wilfully deviated from1 pointing out that1 though the deviations of which he is speaking are slight and subtle1 they are not to be confused with the accidental ones that can but appear even in work done by mechanical processes4 ,rather they are such variation as a man specially intendeth1 and which standeth in his will2 and again1 such a difference as maketh a thing fair or foul2 for the use of these normal proportions is that they may enable an artist to deviate from the normal without the proportions he chooses having the air of monstrosities or mistakes or negligences4 ,he does not insist that either of the scales he gives is the best that could be1 even for this purpose1 but that they are sufficiently good to be used2 and he would have marvelled at the wonder that has been caused in innocent critical minds that in his own work he adhered to them so little4 ,he never intended them to be adhered to4 ,v ,it may be objected that ,drer certainly sometimes thought of a ,canon of ,proportion as a perfect rule1 because he wrote on a ,,ms4 page as follows3-- ,vitruvius1 the ancient architect1 whom the ,romans employed upon great buildings1 says that whosoever desires to build should study the perfection of the human figure1 for in it are discovered the most secret mysteries of proportion4 ,so1 before ,i say anything about architecture1 ,i will state how a well-formed man should be made1 and then about a woman1 a child and a horse4 ,any object may be proportioned out 7literally1 measured7 in a similar way4 ,therefore1 hear first of all what ,vitruvius says about the human figure1 which he learnt from the greatest masters1 painters and founders1 who were highly famed4 ,they said that the human figure is as follows4 ,that the face from the chin upward to where the hair begins is the tenth part of a man1 and that an out-stretched hand is the same length1 c4 ,illustration3 ,this is my appearance in the eighteenth year of my age ,charcoal-drawing in the ,academy1 ,vienna ,face p4#bhh ,and again in another place1 as ,sir ,martin ,conway points out1 he gives a religious basis to this notion1#he the ,creator fashioned men once for all as they must be1 and ,i hold that the perfection of form and beauty is contained in the sum of all men4 ,in an obvious sense these passages certainly run counter to those which ,i have quoted 7pp4 #bhe-bjg73 but ,i would like to point out that these are dogmatic assertions about something that if it were true could never be proved by experience 7see also pp4 #fd1 #bed71 those former are ,drer's advice with a view to practice4 ,men frequently carry about a considerable amount of dogmatic opinion1 which has so little connection with actual experience that it is never brought to the test without being noticeably incommoded by it4 ,yet it is not absolutely necessary to consider ,drer as inconsistent in regard to this matter1 even to this degree4 ,the beauty of form which he held had been ,adam's1 and which was now parcelled out among his vast progeny in various amounts as a consequence of his fall--this beauty of form doubtless ,drer considered it part of an artist's business to recollect and reveal in his work4 ,this beauty is an ideal1 and his canon 7or rather canons7 were intended as means to help the artist to approach towards the realisation of that ideal4 ,it is obvious also that a man occupied in comparing the proportions of those whom he considers to be exceptionally beautiful will develop and feed his power of imagining beautifully proportioned figures4 ,it would be futile to deny that this is very much what took place in the evolution of ,greek statues1 or that such works are perhaps of all others the most central and satisfying to the human spirit4 ,the sentences that precede that quoted by ,sir ,martin are ,greek in tendency4 ,a good figure cannot be made without industry and care2 it should therefore be well considered before it is begun1 so that it be correctly made4 ,for the lines of its form cannot be traced by compass or rule1 but must be drawn by the hand from point to point1 so that it is easy to go wrong in them4 ,and for such figures great attention should be paid to human proportions1 and all their kinds should be investigated4 ,i hold that the more nearly and accurately a figure is made to resemble a man1 so much the better the work will be4 ,if the best parts chosen from many well-formed men are united in one figure1 it will be worthy of praise4 ,but some are of another opinion1 and discuss how men ought to be made4 ,i will not argue with them about that4 ,i hold ,nature for ,master in such matters1 and the fancy of men for delusion4 ,and then follows the passage quoted by ,sir ,martin ,conway 7see p4 #bhi74 ,it is obvious that1 joined with the two preceding sentences1 this passage can in no way be made to serve the academical practitioner1 as it seems to when taken alone4 ,in the same way1 the sentence printed in italics in the above quotation1 if isolated1 would certainly seem to serve the scientific practitioners and their slavish realism1 though in connection with those that follow this is no longer possible4 ,drer regards nature as providing raw material for a creation which may not tally exactly with any individual natural object4 ,this was the ,greek artists' idea of the serviceableness of nature1 as revealed both by their practice and by such traditions as that concerning ,zeuxis and his five beautiful models for the figure of ,venus4 ,but ,drer does not confine the use of his canons even to this aim1 but clearly perceived their utility in regard to quite other aims1 as is shown by the passage beginning1 ,it is not to be wondered at1 c4 7see p4 #bhf71 in which the imagination of figures not merely intended to embody beautiful or newly assorted proportions is clearly considered2 and if we review ,drer's actual work we shall see how much oftener he created figures for picturesque or dramatic effect than he did to embody beautiful proportions in them1 though he evidently also considered the last purpose as of the first importance1 as we see when he goes on to say3 ,let any one who thinks ,i alter the human form too much or too little take care to avoid my error and follow nature4 ,there are many different kinds of men in various lands3 whoso travels far will find this to be so1 and see it before his eyes4 ,we are considering about the most beautiful human figure conceivable1 but 7only7 the ,maker of the world knows how that should be4 ,even if we succeed well we do but approach towards it from afar4 ,for we ourselves have differences of perception1 and the vulgar who follow only their own taste usually err4 ,therefore ,i do not advise any one to follow me1 for ,i only do what ,i can1 and that is not enough even to satisfy myself4 ,the extreme complexity of ,drer's ideas and their application was a natural result of their having been born of his experience4 ,for excellence is extremely various1 and widely scattered through the world4 ,the simplicity of a true work of art results merely from some excellence having been singled out from all foreign circumstances1 and presented as vividly as it was intensely apprehended4 ,this excellence may be one of proportion or one of many other kinds4 ,now1 a figure conceived by an artist1 whether he value it for its choicely assorted proportions or for picturesque or dramatic effect1 may need to be developed before it is serviceable in an elaborate work of art4 ,artists who work rapidly1 and1 whose pictures are dominated by passing moods1 have always been in the habit of taking great licences with proportion1 and1 indeed1 with all matters of fact4 ,drer's aim is to endow the artist who elaborates his work slowly with a similar freedom4 ,this energy and power in rapid work it is the ever-renewed despair of artists to feel themselves losing in the process of elaboration4 ,and one of the reasons for this is that in larger or more elaborate work1 the statement1 being more ample1 is expected to be also more comprehensive and exhaustive2 for the time required begets after-thoughts as to the real nature of the object viewed apart from the mood1 which is the only excuse for the work2 and so some of the artist's attention is drawn away to facts and aspects which it would have been the success of his work to have ignored4 ,drer's object was to help a man to carry out his essential intention1 and that alone1 in a carefully elaborated picture2 the problems faced were precisely similar to those so successfully coped with in ,greek statues4 ,in the first place1 he would have pointed out that all sketches will not bear elaboration if their merit depends on extreme licence1 for instance4 ,next1 that a man who had a standard of proportion could see wherein the deviations of his sketched figure were essential to the effect he wished it to produce1 and wherein they were unessential4 ,then1 if he drew the normal figure large1 he would be able to deviate from it in exactly the right places and to the right degree to reproduce the desired effect4 ,but to do this he must also have a general notion of how deviations from a normal proportion could be made consistent throughout all the measurements involved not that he would in every case want to make them consistent4 ,now1 there is a class of artists for whom all these suggestions of ,drer's must for ever remain useless1 for all science of production is impossible for those whose only success lies in improvisation2 such improvisations1 however dazzling or however delightful they may be1 are1 nevertheless1 the class of art-works furthest removed in spirit and in method from ,greek statuary4 ,i do not say that they need be inferior2 ,i say that they are opposite in method4 ,and1 had circumstances permitted1 or ,drer's dowry of great gifts been more complete than it was1 and enabled him to become as great a creator of pictures as he is a great draughtsman and portrait-painter1 no doubt his pictures would have resembled ,greek statues both in their effect and their method1 however different they might have been in subject and in range4 ,to talk about beauty being sacrificed to truth1 with ,prof4 ,thausing2 or the ideal of the ,north being strength in works of art as in life1 with ,sir ,martin ,conway2--is to confuse the issue and deceive oneself4 ,to have mistaken the proper end of art1 beauty1 by thinking it was truth or strength1 is to have failed to labour in the right direction2 that is all-who-ever may condone the failure4 ,,vi ,again1 ,sir ,martin ,conway tells us3 ,the laws of perspective can be deduced with certainty from mathematical first principles1 the canon of proportions' could only be constructed empirically as the result of repeated observations4 ,nevertheless1 once constructed1 it can certainly be used as ,drer suggested4 ,its use has practically been superseded by the study of anatomy4 ,this last phrase shows us in a flash how far the writer when he wrote it was from apprehending ,drer's meaning4 ,how could the study of anatomy ever do for an artist what ,drer was trying to do8 ,no doubt ,sir ,martin had ,michael ,angelo in his mind's eye2 and it is true that he studied anatomy1 and that his influence has been1 on the whole1 paramount with artists attempting subjects of this kind ever since4 ,whether ,michael ,angelo studied proportion or not1 his practice exemplifies ,drer's meaning splendidly4 ,no anatomical research could have led him to construct figures nine to twelve1 or even fifteen to twenty1 heads high--to do which1 as his work developed1 more and more became his practice1 especially in designs and sketches for compositions4 ,to arrive at such proportions he followed his imaginative instinct4 ,he found that these monstrous deviations from the normal 7which1 of course1 in a general sense he recognised1 whether he gave any study to rendering it precise or not7 produced the effect on his mind that he wished to produce on the minds of others--an effect that was emotional and peculiar to his habitual moods4 ,we know that his constitution gave him the staying-power1 while his fiery ,titanic spirit gave him the energy1 to carry out and perfect his mighty frescoes and statues at the same heat that the creative hour yields other men for the production of a sketch alone4 ,this giant son of ,time was able to live for days and weeks together in a state of mind two or three consecutive hours of which exhaust the average master even4 ,considering the rapidity and intensity of his mental process1 it is a miracle that1 in so many works and to so great a degree1 he respected the too much and too little of human reason1 and allowed himself to be governed by what the ,greeks called a sense of measure1 instead of yielding to his native impetuosity and becoming an a-thousand-fold-greater-,blake2 and illustrating1 to the delight of active and short-winded intelligences1 and the stupefaction of slow and dull ones1 the futility of eccentricity and the frivolity of passion when unseconded by constancy of character and labour4 ,for futile1 in the arts1 is whatever the sense of beauty must condemn1 however well-intentioned2 and frivolous is the passion that forgets the end it would attain1 and becomes merely a private rhapsody1 however astonishing its developments2 slowly but surely it will be seen that such fireworks do not vitally concern us4 ,the proportions of many of ,michael ,angelo's figures are as far removed from any possible normal standard as what ,drer calls this my swiftness1 in the abnormally tall and stout figures among the diagrams illustrating his book4 ,and this is where ,drer's idea comes nearer to ,greek practice4 ,for by letting the striking rather than the subtle govern his departures from the mean1 ,michael ,angelo found himself always bound to go beyond himself2 as the palate which once has entertained strong stimulants demands that the dose be continually strengthened4 ,now this is in entire conformity with the impatience which was perhaps his greatest weakness2 just as ,drer's too methodical approach is in conformity with that acquiescence in the insufficiency of his conditions which made him in his weak moments swear never again to undertake those better classes of work which were less adequately paid1 or made him content to display mere manual dexterity rather than do nothing on his days of darkness1 suffering and depression3 we may add1 which made him choose to live at ,nuremberg and refuse a better income and more suitable surroundings at ,venice4 ,it is obviously the more hopeful way to create a beautiful figure first and discover a mathematical way of reproducing its most essential proportions afterwards2 and no doubt this is what ,drer intended should be done2 and in consequence he felt a need1 and sought to supply it1 for mechanical means to simplify1 shorten and render more sure that part of the process which must necessarily partake something of the nature of drudgery1 if great finish is to be combined with splendid design4 ,the romantic1 impulsive improvisatore does not feel this need1 considers it bound to defeat its own aim2 and1 given his own gifts1 he is right4 ,but none the less1 there are the ,greek statues elaborated with a thoroughness which1 if it ever dims or veils the creative intention1 does so in a degree so slight as to seem amply compensated by the sense of ease maintained in spite of the innumerable difficulties overcome2 there are besides a score or more of ,drer's copper engravings with their imperturbable adequacy of minute painstaking1 never for a moment sleepy or mechanical or lifeless4 ,the one aim need not excommunicate the other even in the same individual2 far less need this be so in different artists1 with diverse temperaments1 diverse aptitudes4 ,,vii ,the application of this idea does not end with the simple proportions of measurement between the limbs and parts of the figure2 it is also concerned with what is called the modelling1 and the treatment of surfaces such as the draperies1 the hair1 the fleshy portions and those beneath which the bony structure comes to prominence2 in painting it may be applied to the chiaroscuro and colour4 ,reynolds' remarks on the ,venetians in his ,eighth ,discourse well illustrate this fact4 ,he says3 ,it ought1 in my opinion1 to be indispensably observed that the masses of light in a picture be always of a warm mellow colour1 yellow1 red1 or a yellowish-white2 and that the blue1 the grey1 or the green colours be kept almost entirely out of these masses1 and be used only to support and set off these warm colours2 and1 for this purpose1 a small proportion of cold colours will be sufficient4 ,if this conduct be reversed1 let the light be cold1 and the surrounding colours warm1 as we often see in the works of the ,roman and ,florentine painters2 and it will be out of the power of art1 even in the hands of ,rubens or ,titian1 to make a picture splendid or harmonious4#hf ,here we see a great colourist attempting to establish a canon for colour4 ,had he lived at an earlier period1 before expression had become generally a subject of criticism1 he would have described his discovery in less guarded and elastic language1 such as is now applied to scientific laws4 ,and then he might have been as excusably misunderstood as ,leonardo and ,drer have been2 as it is1 the misunderstanding dealt out to him is quite without excuse4 ,rembrandt1 not only exemplifies the impressiveness of great deviations in structural proportions in much the same degree as ,michael ,angelo1 using what the ,greeks and ,drer would doubtless have considered a dangerous liberty1 however much they might have felt bound to admire the results obtained2 not only does he do this when1 for instance1 he represents ,jesus now as a giant1 now as almost a dwarf1 according to the imaginative impression which he chooses to create2 but he follows a similar process in his black and white pattern4 ,for among his works there are etchings1 which1 though often supposed to have been left unfinished1 are discerned by those with a sense for beauties of this class to be marvellously complete1 stimulating1 and satisfying1 and in the nicest harmony with the other impressions produced by the mental point of view from which the subject is viewed1 as also by the main lines and proportions of the composition1 and to yield the visual delight most suitable to the occasion4 ,drer and the ,greeks are at one with ,michael ,angelo and ,rembrandt in condemning by their practice all purely mechanical application of ideas or methods to the production of works of creative art1 such as is exemplified by artists of more limited aims and powers2 by academical practitioners1 by theoretical scientists calling themselves impressionists1 luminarists1 naturalists1 or any other name4 ,for artists whose temperaments are impeded by some unhappy slowness1 or difficulty in concentrating themselves1 methods of procedure similar to those elaborated by ,drer in his books on proportion1 properly understood1 must be a real aid and benefit2 as those who are essentially improvisors may help themselves and supply their deficiencies by methods similar to those which ,reynolds describes as practised by ,gainsborough4 ,he even framed a kind of model of landscapes on his table1 composed of broken stones1 dried herbs and pieces of broken glass1 which he magnified and improved into rocks1 trees and water 7,fourteenth ,discourse74 ,this process resembles that of tracing faces or scenes from the life of gnomes in glowing caverns among coals of fire on a winter's eve2 it is resorted to in one form or another by all creative artists1 but it is peculiarly useful to men like ,gainsborough1 whose art tends always to become an improvisation1 whatever strenuous discipline they may have subjected themselves to in their days of ardent youth4 ,,viii ,perhaps ,drer's actual standards for the normal1 his actual methods for creating self-consistent variations from it1 are not likely to prove of much use1 even when artists shall be sufficiently educated to understand them2 nevertheless1 the principle which informs them has been latent in the work of all great creators2 is marvellously fulfilled indeed1 in ,greek statuary4 ,the work of ,antoine ,louis ,barye1 that great and little-understood master--as far as ,i am able to judge1 the only modern artist who has made science serve him instead of being seduced by her--exemplifies this central idea of ,drer's almost as fully as the ,greek masterpieces4 ,the future of art appears to me to lie in the hands of those artists who shall be able to grapple with the new means offered them by the advance of science1 as he did1 and be as little or even less seduced than he was by the foolish idea that art can become science without ceasing to be art1 which has handicapped and defeated the efforts of so many industrious and talented men of late years4 ,so truly is this the case that the improvisor appears to many as the only true artist1 and his uncontrolled caprices as the farthest reach of human constructive power4 ,in any case1 no artist is unhappy if a docile and hopeful disposition enables him to see in the masterpieces of ,greek sculpture the reward of an easy balance of both temperaments and methods1 the improvisor's and the elaborator's1 under felicitous circumstances1 by men better endowed than himself4 ,and this though never history and archaeology shall be in a position to give him information sufficient to determine that his faith is wholly warranted4 ,a golden age is a golden dream1 that sheds ,a golden light on waking hours1 on toil1 ,on leisure1 and on finished works4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #he3 ,literary ,remains of ,albrecht ,drer1 p4 #aff4 ,footnote #hf3 ,see also ,,iii ,discourse where he defends ,drer against ,bacon4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,importance ,,of ,,docility ,i ,i now intend to re-arrange what seem the most interesting of the sentences on the theory of art which are found in ,drer's ,,mss4 and books on proportion4 ,he did not give them the final form or order which he intended1 and it seems to me that to arrange the more important according to the subjects they treat of will be the simplest way of arriving at general conceptions as to their tendency and value4 ,we shall thus bring together repetitions of the same thought and contradictory answers to the same question2 and after each series of sentences1 ,i myself shall discuss the points raised1 illustrating my remarks from modern writers whose opinion in these matters seems to me deserving of most attention4 ,i have heard it said by the late ,mr4 ,arthur ,strong that ,drer's art is always didactic2 and ,drer as a writer on art certainly has ever before his mind this one object1 to teach others1 or1 as ,i should prefer to phrase it1 to help others to learn4 ,for he himself is continually confessing that he cannot yet answer his own questions1 and it seems to me that the best teacher is always he who most desires to increase his knowledge1 not indeed to hoard it as some do and make of it a personal possession2 intellectual misers1 for ever gnashing their teeth over the reputations or the pretensions of others4 ,no1 but one who desires knowledge for its own sake and welcomes it in others with as much satisfaction as he gains it for himself4 ,docility1 i4e41 teachableness1 let me point out once more1 seems to be the necessary midwife of genius1 without the aid of which it often labours in vain1 or brings forth strange incongruous and misshapen births4 ,sad is the condition of a brilliant and fiery spirit shut up in a man's brain without the humble assistance of this lively1 meek and patient virtue6 ,what unrelieved and insupportable throes of agony must be borne by such a spirit1 and how often does such labour end in misanthropy or madness6 ,the records of the lives of exceptionally-gifted men tell us only too clearly what pains those are1 and how frequently they have been borne4 ,so ,i fancy ,i cannot do better than choose out for my first section sentences which praise or advocate the effort to learn1 or attempt to enlighten those who make such an effort on the choice of teachers and disciplines4 ,,ii ,i shall not hesitate to transpose sentences even when they appear in connected passages1 in order1 as ,i hope1 to bring out more clearly their connection4 ,for ,drer was not a writer by profession1 and his thoughts were often more abundant than he knew how to deal with4 ,before starting1 however1 ,i must prefix to my quotations some account of the four ,,ms4 books in the ,british ,museum from which they are principally taken4 ,rough drafts in ,pirkheimer's handwriting were found among them1 but of ,drer's work ,sir ,martin ,conway tells us3 ,the volumes contain upwards of seven hundred leaves and scraps of paper of various kinds1 covered at different dates with more or less elaborate outline drawings1 and more or less corrected drafts for works published or planned by ,drer4 ,interspersed among them are geometrical and other sketches4 ,he was in the habit of correcting and re-copying1 again and again1 what he had written4 ,sometimes he would jot down a sentence alongside of matter to which it had no relation4 ,this sentence he would afterwards introduce in its right connection4 ,there are in these volumes no less than four drafts of the beginning of a ,dedication to ,pirkheimer of the ,books of ,human ,proportions4 ,two other drafts of this same dedication are among the ,dresden ,,mss4 ,the opening sentences of the ,introduction to the same work were likewise1 as will be seen1 the subject of frequent revision4 ,these drafts1 notes and sketches date from #aejh to #aebc4 ,some collector had had them cut out1 gummed together1 and bound without the slightest regard to order1 or even to the sequence of consecutive passages4 ,in ,january #ahij the volumes were taken to pieces and rearranged by ,miss ,lina ,eckenstein1 who had previously made the admirable translations of them for ,sir ,martin ,conway's ,literary ,remains of ,albrecht ,drer1 from which my quotations are taken4 ,the contents of the volumes as rearranged may be roughly described as follows3 ,volume #a4 ,drawings of whole figures and portions of the body1 illustrating ,drer's theories of ,proportion4 ,drawings of a solid octogon4 ,six coloured drawings of crystals4 ,the description of the ,ionic order of architecture4 ,drawings of columns with measurements4 ,a scale for ,human ,proportions4 ,a table of contents for a work on ,geometry4 ,notes on perspective1 curves1 folds1 c4 ,the different kinds of temple after ,vitruvius4 ,mathematical diagrams1 c4 ,volume ,,ii4 ,draft of a dedicatory letter to ,king ,ferdinand 7see page #ahj74 ,drafts and drawings for ,the ,art of ,fortification4 ,drawing of a shield with a rearing horse4 ,mantles of ,netherlandish women and nuns4 ,a ,latin inscription for his own portrait4 ,notes on ,proportion1 and on the feast of the ,rosenkranz4 ,scale for ,human ,proportions4 ,an alphabet4 ,draft of a dedication for the books on ,proportion4 ,sketch of a skeleton4 ,studies of architecture4 ,venetian houses and roofs4 ,sketches of a church1 a house1 a tower1 a drapery1 c4 ,volume ,,iii4 ,drafts of a projected work on ,painting and on the study of ,proportion4 ,drafts for the dedication1 the preface1 and for a work on ,esthetics4 ,drawings of a male body1 a female body1 and a piece of drapery4 ,notes and drawings for the proportions of heads1 hands1 feet1 outline curves1 a child1 a woman1 c4 ,volume ,,iv4 ,proportions of a man1 a fat woman1 the head of the average woman1 the young woman1 c4 ,short ,profession of ,faith 7see page #acj74 ,scale for ,human ,proportions1 c4 ,fragments of the ,preface of ,essay on ,aesthetics1 c4 ,grimacing and distorted faces4 ,use of measurements4 ,on the characters of faces1 thick1 thin1 broad1 narrow1 c4 ,sketches of a dragon and of an angel for ,maximilian's ,triumphal ,procession4 ,list of ,luther's works 7see page #acj74 ,drawings of human bodies proportioned to squares4 ,illustration3 ,,una ,,vilana ,,wendisch ,pen drawing with wash background in the collection of ,mrs4 ,seymour face p4 #cjd ,see the description in ,drer's ,schriftlicher ,nachlass 7,lange und ,fuhse71 page #bfc1 from which the above abstract is made4 ,sir ,martin ,conway continues3 ,in these volumes ,drer is seen1 sometimes writing under the influence of impetuous impulse1 sometimes with leisurely care1 allowing his pen to embroider the script with graceful marginal flourishes4 ,at what period of his career ,drer first conceived the idea of writing a comprehensive work upon the theory and practice of art is unknown4 ,it was certainly before the year #aeab4 ,the following list of chapters may perhaps be an early sketch of the plan4 ,ten things are contained in the little book4 ,the first1 the proportions of a young child4 ,the second1 proportions of a grown man4 ,the third1 proportions of a woman4 ,the fourth1 proportions of a horse4 ,the fifth1 something about architecture4 ,the sixth1 about an apparatus through which it can be shown that 'all things may be traced4 ,the seventh1 about light and shade4 ,the eighth1 about colours1 how to paint like nature4 ,the ninth1 about the ordering 7composition7 of the picture4 ,the tenth1 about free painting1 which alone is made by ,imagination without any other help4 ,,iii ,glad enough should we be to attain unto great knowledge without toil1 for nature has implanted in us the desire of knowing all things1 thereby to discern a truth of all things4 ,but our dull wit cannot come unto such perfectness of all art1 truth1 and wisdom4 ,yet are we not1 therefore1 shut out altogether from all arts4 ,if we want to sharpen our reason by learning and to practise ourselves therein1 having once found the right path we may1 step by step1 seek1 learn1 comprehend1 and finally reach and attain unto something true4 ,wherefore1 he that understandeth how to learn somewhat in his leisure time1 whereby he may most certainly be enabled to honour ,god1 and to do what is useful both for himself and others1 that man doeth well2 and we know that in this wise he will gain much experience in art and will be able to make known its truth for our good4 ,it is right1 therefore1 for one man to teach another4 ,he that joyfully doeth so1 upon him shall much be bestowed by ,god1 from whom we receive all things4 ,he hath highest praise4 ,one finds some who know nothing and learn nothing4 ,they despise learning1 and say that much evil cometh of the arts1 and that some are wholly vile4 ,i1 on the contrary1 hold that no art is evil1 but that all are good4 ,a sword is a sword which may be used either for murder or for justice4 ,similarly the arts are in themselves good4 ,what ,god hath formed1 that is good1 misuse it how ye will4 ,thou findest arts of all kinds2 choose then for thyself that which is like to be of greatest service to thee4 ,learn it2 let not the difficulty thereof vex thee till thou hast accomplished somewhat wherewith thou mayest be satisfied4 ,it is very necessary for a man to know some one thing by reason of the usefulness which ariseth therefrom4 ,wherefore we should all gladly learn1 for the more we know so much the more do we resemble the likeness of ,god1 who verily knoweth all things4 ,the more1 therefore1 a man learneth1 so much the better doth he become1 and so much the more love doth he win for the arts and for things exalted4 ,wherefore a man ought not to play the wanton1 but should learn in season4 ,is the artistic man pious and by nature good8 ,he escheweth the evil and chooseth the good2 and hereunto serve the arts1 for they give the discernment of good and evil4 ,some may learn somewhat of all arts1 but that is not given to every man4 ,nevertheless1 there is no rational man so dull but that he may learn the one thing towards which his fancy draweth him most strongly4 ,hence no man is excused from learning something4 ,let no man put too much confidence in himself1 for many 7pairs of eyes7 see better than one4 ,though it is possible for a man to comprehend more than a thousand 7men71 still that cometh but rarely to pass4 ,many fall into error because they follow their own taste alone2 therefore let each look to it that his inclination blind not his judgment4 ,for every mother is well pleased with her own child1 and thus also it ariseth that many painters paint figures resembling themselves4 ,he that worketh in ignorance worketh more painfully than he that worketh with understanding2 therefore let all learn to understand aright4 ,now ,i know that in our ,german nation1 at the present time1 are many painters who stand in need of instruction1 for they lack all real art1 yet they nevertheless have many large works to do4 ,forasmuch then as they are so numerous1 it is very needful for them to learn to better their work4 ,willingly will ,i impart my teaching1 hereafter written1 to the man who knoweth little and would gladly learn2 but ,i will not be cumbered with the proud1 who1 according to their own estimate of themselves1 know all things1 and are best1 and despise all else4 ,from true artists1 however1 such as can show their meaning with the hand1 ,i desire to learn humbly and with much thankfulness4 ,a thing thou beholdest is easier of belief than that thou hearest1 but whatever is both heard and seen we grasp more firmly and lay hold on more securely4 ,i will therefore do the work in both ways1 that thus ,i may be better understood4 ,whosoever will1 therefore1 let him hear and see what ,i say1 do1 and teach1 for ,i hope it may be of service and not for a hindrance to the better arts1 nor lead thee to neglect better things4 ,i hear moreover of no writer in modern times by whom aught hath been written and made known which ,i might read for my improvement4 ,for some hide their art in great secrecy1 and others write about things whereof they know nothing1 so that their words are nowise better than mere noise1 as he that knoweth somewhat is swift to discover4 ,i therefore will write down with ,god's help the little that ,i know4 ,though many will scorn it ,i am not troubled1 for ,i well know that it is easier to cast blame on a thing than to make anything better4 ,moreover1 ,i will expound my meaning as clearly and plainly as ,i can2 and1 were it possible1 ,i would gladly give everything ,i know to the light1 for the good of cunning students who prize such art more highly than silver or gold4 ,i further admonish all who have any knowledge in these matters that they write it down4 ,do it truly and plainly1 not toilsomely and at great length1 for the sake of those who seek and are glad to learn1 to the great honour of ,god and your own praise4 ,if ,i then set something burning and ye all add to it with skilful furthering1 a blaze may in time arise therefrom which shall shine throughout the whole world4 ,i shall here apply to what is to be called beautiful the same touchstone as that by which we decide what is right4 ,for as what all the world prizeth as right we hold to be right1 so what all the world esteemeth beautiful that will we also hold for beautiful1 and ourselves strive to produce the like4 ,no one need blindly follow this theory of mine as though it were quite perfect1 for human nature has not yet so far degenerated that another man cannot discover something better4 ,so each may use my teaching as long as it seems good to him1 or until he finds something better4 ,where he is not willing to accept it1 he may well hold that this doctrine is not written for him1 but for others who are willing4 ,that must be a strangely dull head which never trusts itself to find out anything fresh1 but only travels along the old path1 simply following others and not daring to reflect for itself4 ,for it beseems each understanding1 in following another1 not to despair of itself discovering something better4 ,if that is done1 there remaineth no doubt but that in time this art will again reach the perfection it attained amongst the ancients4 ,much will hereafter be written about subjects and refinements of painting4 ,sure am ,i that many notable men will arise1 all of whom will write both well and better about this art1 and will teach it better than ,i2 for ,i myself hold my art at a very mean value1 for ,i know what my faults are4 ,let every man therefore strive to better these my errors according to his powers4 ,would to ,god it were possible for me to see the work and art of the mighty masters to come1 who are yet unborn1 for ,i know that ,i might be improved upon4 ,ah6 how often in my sleep do ,i behold great works of art and beautiful things1 the like whereof never appear to me awake1 but so soon as ,i awake1 even the remembrance of them leaveth me4 ,compare also the passages already quoted17pp4 #ae1af1bf74 ,,iv ,what an admirable temper6 is the exclamation which expresses our first feeling on reading the foregoing sentences4 ,it renews the spirit of a man merely to peruse such things4 ,scales fall from our eyes1 and we see what we most essentially are1 with pleasure1 as good children gleefully recognise their goodness3 and at the same time we are filled with contrition that we should have ever forgotten it4 ,and this that we most essentially are rational beings1 lovers of goodness1 children of hope1--how directly ,drer appeals to it3 ,nature has implanted in us the desire of knowing all things4 ,it reminds one of ,ben ,jonson's3-- ,it is a false quarrel against nature1 that she helps understanding but in a few1 when the most part of mankind are inclined by her thither1 if they would take the pains2 no less than birds to fly1 horses to run1 c41 which1 if they lose it1 is through their own sluggishness1 and by that means they become her prodigies1 not her children4 ,there is something refreshing and inspiriting in the mere conviction of our teachableness2 and when the same author1 referring to ,plato's travels in search of knowledge1 says1 ,he laboured1 so must we1 we do not find the comparison humiliating either to ,plato or ourselves4 ,for without a way there is no going1 and every man of superior mould says to us with more or less of benignity1 ,i am the way3 follow me4 ,such means or ways of attainment have been followed by all whose success is known to us1 and are followed now by all finely touched and gifted men4 ,i might quote in illustration of these assertions the whole of ,reynolds' ,sixth ,discourse1 so marvellous for its acute and delicate discrimination2 but ,i will content myself with a few leading passages3 ,we cannot suppose that any one can really mean to exclude all imitation of others4 ,it is a common observation that no art was ever invented and carried to perfection at the same time4 ,the greatest natural genius cannot subsist on its own stock3 he who resolves never to ransack any mind but his own will soon be reduced to the poorest of all imitations1 he will be obliged to imitate himself1 and to repeat what he has often before repeated4 ,the truth is1 he whose feebleness is such as to make other men's thoughts an encumbrance to him1 can have no very great strength of mind or genius of his own to be destroyed3 so that not much harm will be done at the worst4 ,of course1 this last phrase will not apply universally2 we must remember that the man who sets out to become an artist1 or claims to be one by native gift1 has made apparent that he is the possessor of no mean ambition4 ,the humblest may see a way of improvement in their betters1 and obey the command1 ,follow me4 ,every man is not called to follow great artists1 but only those who are peculiarly fitted to tread the difficult paths that climb ,olympus-hill4 ,yet to all men alike the great artist in life1 he who wedded failure to divinity1 says1 ,learn of me that ,i am meek and lowly of heart1 and ye shall find rest to your souls4 ,he who confines himself to the imitation of an individual1 as he never proposes to surpass1 so he is not likely to equal1 the object of his imitation4 ,he professes only to follow2 and he that follows must necessarily be behind4 ,it is of course impossible to surpass perfection1 but it is possible to be made one with it4 ,to find excellences1 however dispersed1 to discover beauties1 however concealed by the multitude of defects with which they are surrounded1 can be the work only of him who1 having a mind always alive to his art1 has extended his views to all ages and to all schools2 and has acquired from that comprehensive mass which he has thus gathered to himself a well-digested and perfect idea of his art1 to which everything is referred4 ,like a sovereign judge and arbiter of art1 he is possessed of that presiding power which separates and attracts every excellence from every school2 selects both from what is great and what is little2 brings home knowledge from the east and from the west2 making the universe tributary towards furnishing his mind1 and enriching his works with originality and variety of inventions4 ,in this tine passage we get back to our central idea in regard to the sense of proportion making the universe tributary towards furnishing his mind2 while in the discovery of beauties the complete artist selects both from what is great and what is little1 from the clouds of heaven and from the dunghills of the farmyard4 ,study1 therefore1 the great works of the great masters for ever4 ,study1 as nearly as you can1 in the order1 in the manner1 and on the principles on which they studied4 ,study nature attentively1 but always with those masters in your company2 consider them as models which you are to imitate1 and at the same time as rivals with whom you are to contend4 ,for no man can be an artist1 whatever he may suppose1 upon any other terms4 ,yes1 an artist is a child who chooses his parents1 nor is he limited to only two4 ,religion tells all men they have a ,father1 who is ,god2 philosophy and tradition repeat1 man has a mother1 who is ,nature4 ,these sayings are platitudes2 their application is so obvious that it is now generally forgotten4 ,if ,god is a ,father1 it is the soul that chooses ,him2 if ,nature is a mother1 it is the man who chooses to regard her as such1 since to the greater number it is well known she seems but a stepmother1 and a cruel one at that4 ,elective affinities1 chosen kindred6--tell me what company you keep1 and ,i will tell you who you are 7what you are worth74 ,how many artist waifs one sees nowadays6 lost souls1 who choose to be nobody's children1 and think they can teach themselves all they need to know4 ,i think the very striking agreement between artists so totally different in every respect except eminence1 docility and anxiety to further art1 as ,drer and ,reynolds1 ought to impress our minds very deeply3 even though1 as is certainly the case1 the way they point out has been very greatly abandoned of late years1 and public institutions in this and other countries proceed to further art on quite other lines2 even though critics are almost unanimous in knowing better both the end and the way than the great masters who had not the advantage of a dash of science in their hydromel to make it sparkle1 but instead made it yet richer and thicker by stirring up with it piety and religion4 ,i think this cock-tail and sherry-cobbler art criticism of to-day is very deleterious to the digestion1 and that the piety and enthusiasm which ,drer and ,reynolds worked into their art were more wholesome1 and better supplied the needs and deficiencies of artistic temperaments4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,lost ,,tradition ,i ,many centuries ago the great art of painting was held in high honour by mighty kings1 and they made excellent artists rich and held them worthy1 accounting such inventiveness a creating power like ,god's4 ,for the imagination of a good painter is full of figures1 and were it possible for him to live for ever1 he would always have from his inward ideas1 whereof ,plato speaks1 something new to set forth by the work of his hand4 ,many hundred years ago there were still some famous painters1 such as those named ,phidias1 ,praxiteles1 ,apelles1 ,polycleitus1 ,parrhasius1 ,lysippus1 ,protogenes1 and the rest1 some of whom wrote about their art and very artfully described it and gave it plainly to light3 but their praise-worthy books are1 so far1 unknown to us1 and perhaps have been altogether lost by war1 driving forth of the peoples1 and alterations of laws and beliefs--a loss much to be regretted by every wise man4 ,it often came to pass that noble ,ingenia were destroyed by barbarous oppressors of art2 for if they saw figures traced in a few lines they thought it nought but vain1 devilish sorcery4 ,and in destroying them they attempted to honour ,god by something displeasing to ,him2 and to use the language of men1 ,god was angry with all destroyers of the works of great mastership1 which is only attained by much toil1 labour1 and expenditure of time1 and is bestowed by ,god alone4 ,often do ,i sorrow because ,i must be robbed of the aforesaid masters' books of art2 but the enemies of art despise these things4 ,pliny writeth that the old painters and sculptors--such as ,apelles1 ,protogenes1 and the rest--told very artistically in writing how a well-built man's figure might be measured out4 ,now it may well have come to pass that these noble books were misunderstood and destroyed as idolatrous in the early days of the ,church4 ,for they would have said ,jupiter should have such proportions1 ,apollo such others2 ,venus shall be thus1 ,hercules thus2 and so with all the rest4 ,had it1 however1 been my fate to be there at the time1 ,i would have said3 ,oh dear1 holy lords and fathers1 do not so lamentably destroy the nobly discovered arts1 which have been gotten by great toil and labour1 only because of the abuses made of them4 ,for art is very hard1 and we might and would use it for the great honour and glory of ,god4 ,for1 even as the ancients used the fairest figure of a man to represent their false god ,apollo1 we will employ the same for ,christ the ,lord1 who is fairest of all the earth2 and as they figured ,venus as the loveliest of women1 so will we in like manner set down the same beauteous form for the most pure ,virgin ,mary1 the mother of ,god2 and of ,hercules will we make ,samson1 and thus will we do with all the rest1 for such books shall we get never more4 ,wherefore1 though that which is lost ariseth not again1 yet a man may strive after new lore2 and for these reasons ,i have been moved to make known my ideas here following1 in order that others may ponder the matter further1 and may thus come to a new and better way and foundation4 ,i certainly do not deny that1 if the books of the ancients who wrote about the art of painting still lay before our eyes1 my design might be open to the false interpretation that ,i thought to find out something better than what was known unto them4 ,these books1 however1 have been totally lost in the lapse of time2 so ,i cannot be justly blamed for publishing my opinions and discoveries in writing1 for that is exactly what the ancients did4 ,if other competent men are thereby induced to do the like1 our descendants have something which they may add to and improve upon1 and thus the art of painting may in time advance and reach its perfection4 ,,ii ,whether we should exercise our intellects or logical sense alone upon the records and remains of past ages1 or whether they may not be better employed for the exercise and edification of the imaginative faculties1 would seem to be a question which1 though they did not perhaps in set terms put to themselves1 modern historians have very summarily answered2 and ,i think answered wrongly4 ,the records of the past1 the records even of yesterday1 are necessarily extremely incomplete2 to make them at all significant something must be added by the historian4 ,the 'perception' of probability is never exact2 it varies with the mind between man and man2 in the same man even before and after different experiences1 c4 ,but even if the perception of the highest probability were practically exact1 it would never suffice2 for1 as ,aristotle says1 it is probable that many things should happen contrary to probability4 ,from these facts it follows that the man who has the most exhaustive knowledge of what has actually survived1 and what has been recorded1 will not necessarily form the truest judgment on a question of history2 it might always happen that the intuition of some unscholarly person was nearer the truth2 still no man could ever decide between the two1 nor would any sane man think it worth his while to take sides with either of them2 such questions are most useful when they are left open4 ,this is the case because the imagination is thus left freer to use such knowledge as it has for the edification of the character2 and that model for our example or warning which the imagination constructs may always possibly be the truth4 ,according to the balance in it of apparent probability1 with edifying power it will beget conviction4 ,such a conviction may be doomed to be superseded sooner or later2 its value lies in its potency while it lasts4 ,the temper in which we look at our historical heritage is of more importance to us now than the exactitude of our vision2 for this latter can never be proved1 while the former approves itself by the fruit it bears within us4 ,it is better1 more fruitful1 to feel with ,drer about the art of ,ancient ,greece than to know all that can be known of it to-day and feel a great deal less4 ,character calls forth character1 said ,goethe2 we may add1 even from the grave4 ,now that the physical miracle of the ,resurrection has come to seem so unimportant and uninteresting to educated men1 it might be a wise economy to connect its poetry with this experience1 that great and creative characters can raise men better worth knowing than ,lazarus from the dead4 ,nietsche thought that ,shakespeare had brought ,brutus back to life1 7though he knew very little of ,roman history71 and that ,brutus was the ,roman best worth knowing4 ,of all peoples1 the ,greeks dreamt the dream of life the best1 ,goethe said2 and again1 ,for all other arts we have to make some allowance2 to ,greek art alone we are for ever debtors4 ,to feel the truth of these sayings with a passion similar to that shown in the passages quoted above from ,drer1 must surely be a great help to an artist4 ,such a passion is an end in itself1 or rather is the only means by which we can win spiritual freedom from some of the heavier fetters that modern life lays upon us4 ,it freed ,goethe even from ,germany4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,beauty ,i ,how is beauty to be judged8--upon that we have to deliberate4 ,a man by skill may bring it into every single thing1 for in some things we recognise that as beautiful which elsewhere would lack beauty4 ,good and better in respect of beauty are not easy to discern2 for it would be quite possible to make two different figures1 one stout1 the other thin1 which should differ one from the other in every proportion1 and yet we scarce might be able to judge which of the two excelled in beauty4 ,what beauty is ,i know not1 though it dependeth upon many things4 ,i shall here apply to what is to be called beautiful the same touchstone as that by which we decide what is right4 ,for as what all the world prizeth as right we hold to be right1 so what all the world esteemeth beautiful that we will also hold for beautiful1 and ourselves strive to produce the like4 ,there are many causes and varieties of beauty2 he that can prove them is so much the more to be trusted4 ,the accord of one thing with another is beautiful1 therefore want of harmony is not beautiful4 ,a real harmony linketh together things unlike4 ,use is a part of beauty1 whatever therefore is useless unto men is without beauty4 ,the more imperfection is excluded so much the more doth beauty abide in the work4 ,guard thyself from superfluity4 ,but beauty is so put together in men and so uncertain is our judgment about it1 that we may perhaps find two men both beautiful and fair to look upon1 and yet neither resembleth the other1 in measure or kind1 in any single point or part2 and so blind is our perception that we shall not understand whether of the two is the more beautiful1 and if we give an opinion on the matter it shall lack certainty4 ,negro faces are seldom beautiful because of their very flat noses and thick lips2 moreover1 their shinbone is too prominent1 and the knee and foot too long1 not so good to look upon as those of the whites2 and so also is it with their hand4 ,howbeit1 ,i have seen some amongst them whose whole bodies have been so well-built and handsome that ,i never beheld finer figures1 nor can ,i conceive how they might be bettered1 so excellent were their arms and all their limbs4 ,seeing that man is the worthiest of all creatures1 it follows that1 in all pictures1 the human figure is most frequently employed as a centre of interest4 ,every animal in the world regards nothing but his own kind1 and the same nature is also in men1 as every man may perceive in himself4 ,illustration3 ,charcoal-drawing heightened with white on a green prepared ground1 in the ,berlin ,print ,room ,face p4 #cbj ,further1 in order that he may arrive at a good canon whereby to bring somewhat of beauty into our work1 there-unto it were best for thee1 it bethinks me1 to form thy canon from many living men4 ,howbeit seek only such men as are held beautiful1 and from such draw with all diligence4 ,for one who hath understanding may1 from men of many different kinds1 gather something good together through all the limbs of the body4 ,but seldom is a man found who hath all his limbs good1 for every man lacks something4 ,no single man can be taken as a model of a perfect figure1 for no man liveth on earth who uniteth in himself all manner of beauties4444 ,there liveth also no man upon earth who could give a final judgment upon what the perfect figure of a man is2 ,god only knoweth that4 ,and although we cannot speak of the greatest beauty of a living creature1 yet we find in the visible creation a beauty so far surpassing our understanding that no one of us can fully bring it into his work4 ,if we were to ask how we are to make a beautiful figure1 some would give answer3 ,according to human judgment 7i4e41 common taste74 ,others would not agree thereto1 neither should ,i without a good reason4 ,who will give us certainty in this matter8#hg ,,ii ,i have already given what ,i believe to be the best answer to these questions as to what beauty is and how it is to be judged4 ,beauty is beauty as good is good 7see pp4 #g1 #h71 or yellow1 yellow2 indeed1 to the second question1 ,matthew ,arnold has given the only possible answer--the relative value of beauties is as the judicious would determine1 and the judicious are1 in matters of art finely touched and gifted men4 ,this criterion obviously cannot be easily or hastily applied1 nor could one ever be quite sure that in any given case it had been applied to any given effect4 ,but for practical needs we see that it suffices to cast a slur on facile popularity1 and vindicate over and over again those who had been despised and rejected4 ,what the true artist desires to bring into his pictures is the power to move finely-touched and gifted men4 ,not only are such by very much the minority1 but the more part of them being1 by their capacity to be moved and touched1 easily wounded1 have developed a natural armour of reserve1 of moroseness1 of prejudice1 of combativeness1 of pedantry1 which makes them as difficult to address as wombats1 or bears1 or tortoises1 or porcupines1 or polecats1 or elephants4 ,it is interesting to witness how ,drer's self-contradictions show him to be aware of the great complexity of these difficulties1 as also to see how very near he comes to the true answer4 ,at one time he tells us3 ,when men demand a work of a master1 he is to be praised in so far as he succeeds in satisfying their likings 444#hh ,at another he tells us3 ,the art of painting cannot be truly judged save by such as are themselves good painters2 from others verily is it hidden even as a strange tongue4#hi ,every finely touched and gifted man is not an artist2 but every true artist must1 in some measure1 be a finely touched and gifted man4 ,there is no necessity to limit the public addressed to those who themselves produce3 yet those who can prove what they say with their hand bring credentials superior to those offered by any others1--although even their judgment is not sure1 as they may well represent a minority of the true court of appeal which can never be brought together4 ,no doubt there is a judgment and a scale of values accepted as final by each generation that gives any considerable attention to these questions4 sthetic appear to be exactly similar to religious convictions4 ,those who are subject to them probably pass through many successively1 even though they all their lives hold to a certain fashion which enables them to assert some obvious unity1 like those who1 in religion1 belong always to one sect4 ,yet if they were in a position to analyse their emotions and leanings1 no doubt very fundamental contradictions would be discovered to disconcert them4 ,conviction and enthusiasm in the arts and religion would seem to be the frame of mind natural to those who assimilate1 and are rendered productive by what they study and admire4 ,convictions may never be wholly justifiable in theory1 but in practice when results are considered1 it would seem that no other frame of mind should escape censure4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #hg3 ,literary ,remains of ,albrecht ,drer1 p4 #bdd4 ,footnote #hh3 ,literary ,remains of ,albrecht ,drer1 p4 #bde4 ,footnote #hi3 ,idem4 p4 #agg4 ,,chapter ,v ,,nature ,i ,we regard a form and figure out of nature with more pleasure than another1 though the thing in itself is not necessarily altogether better or worse4 ,life in nature showeth forth the truth of these things 7the words of difference--i4e41 the character of bodily habit to which they refer71 wherefore regard it well1 order thyself thereby and depart not from nature in thine opinions1 neither imagine of thyself to invent aught better1 else shalt thou be led astray1 for art standeth firmly fixed in nature1 and whoso can rend her forth thence he only possesseth her4 ,if thou acquirest her1 she will remove many faults for thee from thy work4 ,neither must the figure be made youthful before and old behind1 or contrariwise2 for that unto which nature is opposed is bad4 ,hence it followeth that each figure should be of one kind alone throughout1 either young or old1 or middle-aged1 or lean or fat1 or soft or hard4 ,the more closely thy work abideth by life in its form1 so much the better will it appear2 and this is true4 ,wherefore never more imagine that thou either canst or shalt make anything better than ,god hath given power to ,his creatures to do4 ,for thy power is weakness compared to ,god's creating hand4 7,see continuation of passage1 p4 #aj47 ,compare also passages quoted 7pp4 #bhi-bia74 ,,ii ,in these and other passages ,drer speaks about nature1 and enjoins on the artist respect for and conformity to nature in a manner which reminds us of that still current in dictums about art4 ,indeed1 it seems probable that ,drer's use of this term was almost as confused as that of a modern art-critic4 ,there are two senses in which the word nature is employed1 the confusion of which is ten times more confounded than any of the others1 and deserves1 indeed1 utter damnation1 so prolific of evil is it4 ,we call the objects of sensory perception nature--whatever is seen1 heard1 felt1 smelt or tasted is a part of nature4 ,and yet we constantly speak of seeing1 hearing1 touching1 smelling1 and tasting monstrous and unnatural things4 ,and a monstrous and unnatural thing is not merely one which is rare1 but even more decidedly one of which we disapprove4 ,so that the second use of the term conveys some sense of exceptionality1 but far more of lack of conformity to human desires and expectations4 ,now1 many things which do not exist are perfectly natural in this second sense3 fairy-lands1 heavens1 c4 ,we perfectly understand what is meant by a natural and an unnatural imagination1 we perceive readily all kind of degrees between the monstrous and the natural in pure fiction4 ,now1 this second use of the term nature is the only one which is of any vital importance to our judgments upon works of art2 yet current judgments are more often than not based wholly on the first sense1 which means merely all objects perceived by the senses2 and this1 draped in the authority and phrases belonging to judgments based on the second and really pertinent sense4 ,whole schools of painting and criticism have arisen and flourish whose only reason for existence is the extreme facility with which this confusion is made in ,european languages4 ,it sounds so plausible that some have censured ,michael ,angelo for bad drawing because men are not from #i to #ae or #af heads high1 and have not muscles so developed as the gods and ,titans of his creation4 ,and others have objected to the angels1 the anatomical ambiguity of their wing articulations4 ,to say that a sketch or picture is out of tone or drawing damns1 in many circles to-day2 in spite of the fact that the most famous masterpieces1 if judged by the same standard1 would be equally offensive4 ,this absurdity1 even where its grosser developments are avoided1 breeds abundant contradictions and confusion in the mouths of those who plume themselves on culture and discernment4 ,i hope not to have been too saucy1 therefore1 in pointing out this pitfall to my readers in regard to these sentences which ,i thought it worth while to quote from ,drer1 merely because if ,i did not do so ,i foresaw that they would be quoted against me4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,choice ,,of ,,an ,,artist ,i ,in the great earnestness with which the difficulties that beset art and the artist impressed him1 ,drer intended to write a ,vade ,mecum for those who should come after him4 ,he has left among his ,,ms4 papers many plans1 rough drafts1 and notes for some such work1 the form of which no doubt changed from time to time4 ,the one which gives us the most comprehensive idea of his intentions is perhaps the following4 ,,ii ,ihs4 ,maria ,by the grace and help of ,god ,i have here set down all that ,i have learnt in practice1 which is likely to be of use in painting1 for the service of all students who would gladly learn4 ,that1 perchance1 by my help they may advance still further in the higher understanding of such art1 as he who seeketh may well do1 if he is inclined thereto2 for my reason sufficeth not to lay the foundations of this great1 far-reaching1 infinite art of true painting4 ,item4--,in order that thou mayest thoroughly and rightly comprehend what is1 or is called1 an artistic painter1 ,i will inform thee and recount to thee4 ,if the world often goeth without an artistic painter1 whilst for two or three hundred years none such appeareth1 it is because those who might have become such devote not themselves to art4 ,observe then the three essential qualities following1 which belong to the true artist in painting4 ,these are the three main points in the whole book4 ,i4 ,the ,first ,division of the book is the ,prologue1 and it compriseth three parts 7,a1 ,b1 and ,c74 ,a4 ,the first part of the ,prologue telleth us how the lad should be taught1 and how attention should be paid to the tendency of his temperament4 ,it falleth into six parts3 #a4 ,that note should be taken of the birth of the child1 in what ,sign it occurreth2 with some explanations4 7,pray ,god for a lucky hour67 #b4 ,that his form and stature should be considered2 with some explanations4 #c4 ,how he ought to be nurtured in learning from the first2 with some explanations4 #d4 ,that the child should be observed1 whether he learneth best when kindly praised or when chidden2 with explanations4 #e4 ,that the child be kept eager to learn and be not vexed4 #f4 ,if the child worketh too hard1 so that he might fall under the hand of melancholy1 that he be enticed therefrom by merry music to the pleasuring of his blood4 ,b4 ,the second part of the ,preface showeth how the lad should be brought up in the fear of ,god and in reverence1 that so he may attain grace1 whereby he may be much strengthened in intelligent art4 ,it falleth into six parts3 #a4 ,that the lad be brought up in the fear of ,god and be taught to pray to ,god for the grace of quick perception 7ubtilitet7 and to honour ,god4 #b4 ,that he be kept moderate in eating and drinking1 and also in sleeping4 #c4 ,that he dwell in a pleasant house1 so that he be distracted by no manner of hindrance4 #d4 ,that he be kept from women and live not loosely with them2 that he not so much as see or touch one2 and that he guard himself from all impurity4 ,nothing weakens the understanding more than impurity4 #e4 ,that he know how to read and write well1 and be also instructed in ,latin1 so far as to understand certain writings4 #f4 ,that such an one have sufficient means to devote himself without anxiety 7to his art71 and that his health be attended to with medicines when needful4 ,c4 ,the third part of the ,prologue teacheth us of the great usefulness1 joy1 and delight which spring from painting4 ,it falleth into six parts3 #a4 ,it is a useful art when it is of godly sort1 and is employed for holy edification4 #b4 ,it is useful1 and much evil is thereby avoided1 if a man devote himself thereto who else had wasted his time4 #c4 ,it is useful when no one thinks so1 for a man will have great joy if he occupy himself with that which is so rich in joys4 #d4 ,it is useful because a man gaineth great and lasting memory thereby if he applieth it aright4 #e4 ,it is useful because ,god is thereby honoured when it is seen that ,he hath bestowed such genius upon one of ,his creatures in whom is such art4 ,all men will be gracious unto thee by reason of thine art4 #f4 ,the sixth use is that if thou art poor thou mayest by such art come unto great wealth and riches4 ,,ii4 ,the ,second ,division of the book treateth of ,painting itself2 it also is threefold4 ,a4 ,the first part is of the freedom of painting2 in six ways4 ,b4 ,the second part is of the proportions of men and buildings1 and what is needful for painting2 in six ways4#ij #a4 ,of the proportions of men4 #b4 ,of the proportions of horses4 #c4 ,of the proportions of buildings4 #d4 ,of perspective4 #e4 ,of light and shade4 #f4 ,of colours1 how they are to be made to resemble nature4 ,c4 ,the third part is of all that a man conceives as subject for painting4 ,,iii4 ,the ,third ,division of the book is the ,conclusion2 it also hath three parts4 ,a4 ,the first part shows in what place such an artist should dwell to practise his art2 in six ways4 ,b4 ,the second part shows how such a wonderful artist should charge highly for his art1 and that no money is too much for it1 seeing that it is divine and true2 in six ways4 ,the third part speaks of praise and thanksgiving which he should render unto ,god for ,his grace1 and which others should render on his behalf2 in six ways4 ,,iii ,it is in the variety and completeness of his intentions that we perceive ,drer's kinship with the ,renascence2 he comprehends the whole of life in his idea of art training4 ,in his persuasion of the fundamental necessity of morality he is akin to the best of the ,reformation4 ,it is in the union of these two perceptions that his resemblance to ,michael ,angelo lies4 ,there is a rigour1 an austerity which emanates from their work1 such as is not found in the work of ,titian or ,rembrandt or ,leonardo or ,rubens or any other mighty artist of ripe epochs4 ,yet we find both of them illustrating the licentious legends of antiquity1 turning from the ,virgin to ,amymone and ,leda1 from ,christ to ,apollo and ,hercules4 ,by their action and example neither joins either the ,reformation or the ,renascence in so far as these movements may be considered antagonistic2 nor did they find it inconsistent to acknowledge their debt to ,greece and ,rome1 even while accepting the gift of ,jesus' example as freely as it was offered4 ,not only does ,drer insist on the necessity of a certain consonancy between the surrounding influences and the artist's capacity1 which should be both called forth and relieved by the interchange of rivalry with instruction1 of seclusion with music or society1 but the process which ,jesus made the central one of his religion is put forward as essential2 he must form himself on a precedent example4 ,i have already quoted from ,reynolds at length on this point4 ,i will merely add here some notes from another ,,ms4 fragment of ,drer's bearing on the same points4 ,he that would be a painter must have a natural turn thereto4 ,love and delight therein are better teachers of the ,art of ,painting than compulsion is4 ,if a man is to become a really great painter he must be educated thereto from his very earliest years4 ,he must copy much of the work of good artists until he attain a free hand4 ,to paint is to be able to portray upon a flat surface any visible thing whatsoever that may be chosen4 ,it is well for any one first to learn how to divide and reduce1 to measure the human figure1 before learning anything else4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #ij3 ,the following list comes from another sheet of the ,,ms4 7in4 #gj71 but was dearly intended for this place4 ,it is jotted down on a thick piece of paper1 on which there are also geometrical designs4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,technical ,,precepts ,i ,if thou wishest to model well in painting1 so as to deceive the eyesight1 thou must be right cunning in thy colours1 and must know how to keep them distinct1 in painting1 one from another4 ,for example1 thou paintest two coats of mantles1 one white the other red2 thou must deal differently with them in shading4 ,there is light and shadow on all things1 wherever the surface foldeth or bendeth away from the eye4 ,if this were not so1 everything would look flat1 and then one could distinguish nothing save only a chequerwork of colours4 ,if then thou art shading the white mantle1 it must not be shaded with so dark a colour as the red1 for it would be impossible for a white thing to yield so dark a shadow as a red4 ,neither could they be compared one with another1 save that in total absence of daylight everything is black1 seeing that colour cannot be recognised in darkness4 ,though1 therefore1 in such a case1 the theory allows one1 without blame1 to use pure black for the shadows of a white object1 yet this can seldom come to pass4 ,moreover1 when thou paintest anything in one colour--be it red1 blue1 brown1 or any mixed colour--beware lest thou make it so bright in the lights that it departs from its own kind4 ,for example1 an uneducated man regardeth thy picture wherein is a red coat4 ,look1 good friend1 saith he1 in one part the coat is of a fair red and in another it is white or pale in colour4 ,that same is to be blamed1 neither hast thou done it aright4 ,in such a case a red object must be painted red all over and yet preserve the appearance of solidity2 and so with all colours4 ,the same must be done with the shadows1 lest it be said that a fair red is soiled with black ,wherefore be careful that thou shade each colour with a similar colour4 ,thus ,i hold that a yellow1 to retain its kind1 must be shaded with a yellow1 darker toned than the principal colour4 ,if thou shade it with green or blue1 it remaineth no longer in keeping1 and is no longer yellow1 but becometh thereby a shot colour1 like the colour of silk stuffs woven of threads of two colours1 as brown and blue1 brown and green1 dark yellow and green1 chestnut-brown and dark yellow1 blue and seal red1 seal red and brown1 and the many other colours one sees4 ,if a man hath such as these to paint1 where the surface breaketh and bendeth away the colours divide themselves so that they can be distinguished one from another1 and thus must thou paint them4 ,but where the surface lieth flat one colour alone appeareth4 ,howbeit1 if thou art painting such a silk and shadest it with one colour 7as a brown with a blue7 thou must none the less shade the blue with a deeper blue where it is needful4 ,if often cometh to pass that such silks appear brown in the shadows1 as if one colour stood before the other4 ,if thy model beareth such a garment1 thou must shade the brown with a deeper brown and not with blue4 ,howbeit1 happen what may1 every colour must in shading keep to its own class4 ,,ii ,the great genius ,hokusai1 who has obtained for popular art in ,japan a success comparable to that of the best classic masterpieces of that country and to the drawings and etchings of ,rembrandt1 a master of an altogether kindred nature1 wrote a little treatise on the difference of aim noticeable in ,european and ,japanese art4 ,from the few ,dutch pictures which he had been able to examine1 he concluded that ,european art attempted to deceive the eye1 whereas ,japanese art laboured to express life1 to suggest movement1 and to harmonise colour4 ,what is meant is easily grasped when we set before the mind's eye a picture1 by ,teniers and a page of ,hokusai's ,mangwa4 ,on the other hand1 if one chose a sketch by ,rembrandt to represent ,dutch art1 the difference could no longer be apparent4 ,if the aim of ,european art had ever in serious examples been to deceive the eye1 our painting would rank with legerdemain and ,maskelyne's famous box trick2 for it is to be doubted if it could ever so well have attained its end as even a second-rate conjurer can4 ,i have cited a passage in which ,reynolds confronts the work of great artists with the illusions of the camera obscura 7see p4 #bcg74 ,the adept musical performer who reproduces the noises of a farmyard is the true parallel to the lesser ,dutch artists2 he deceives the ear far better than they deceive the eye4 ,for every picture has a surface which1 unless very carefully lighted1 must immediately destroy the illusion1 even if it were otherwise perfect4 ,nevertheless1 ,drer in the foregoing passage seems to accept ,hokusai's verdict that the aim of his painting is to deceive the eye2 forgetful of all that he has elsewhere written about the necessity of beauty1 the necessity of composition1 the superiority of rough sketches over finished works4 ,when a painter has conceived in his heart a vision of beauty1 whether he suggests it with a few strokes of the pen or elaborates it as thoroughly as ,jan ,van ,eyck did1 he wishes it to be taken as a report of something seen4 ,this is as different from wishing to deceive the eye as for some one to say and then a dog barked1 instead of imitating the barking of a dog4 ,a circumstantial description in words and a picture by ,van ,eyck or ,veronese are equally intended to pass as reports of something visually conceived or actually seen4 ,pictures would have to be made peep-shows of before they could veritably deceive2 and ,jan ,van ,beers1 a modern ,dutchman1 actually turned some of his paintings into peep-shows4 ,drer in the following passage is speaking of the separate details or objects which go to make up a picture1 not of the picture as a whole2 he never tried to make peep-shows2 his signature or an inscription is often used to give the very surface that must destroy the peep-show illusion a definite decorative value4 ,the rest of his remarks have become commonplaces2 nor has he written at such length as to give them their true limitations and intersubordination4 ,they will be easily understood by those who remember that art is concerned with producing the illusion of a true report of something seen1 not that of an actual vision4 ,such a report may be slight and brief2 it may be stammered by emotion2 it may have been confused or tortured to any degree by the mental condition of him who delivers it3 if it produces the conviction of his sincerity1 it achieves the only illusion with which art is concerned1 and its value will depend on its beauty and the beauty of the means employed to deliver it4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,in ,,conclusion ,after turning over ,drer prints and drawings1 after meditating on his writings1 we feel that we are in the presence of one of those forces which are constant and equal1 which continue and remain like the growth of the body1 the return of seasons1 the succession of moods4 ,this is always among the greatest charms of central characters3 they are mild and even1 their action is like that of the tides1 not that of storms4 ,if only you had my meekness1 ,drer wrote to ,pirkheimer 7set3 p4 #he71 half in jest doubtless1 but with profound truth3--though the word meekness does not indeed cover the whole of what we feel made ,drer's most radical advantage over his friend2 at other times we might call it navety1 that sincerity of great and simple natures which can never be outflanked or surprised4 ,sometimes it might be called pride1 for it has certainly a great deal of self-assurance behind it1 the self-assurance of trees1 of flowers1 of dumb animals and little children1 who never dream that an apology for being where and what they are can be expected of them4 ,such natures when they come home to us come to stop2 we may go out1 we may pay no heed to them1 we may forget them1 but they abide in the memory1 and some day they take hold of us with all the more force because this new impression will exactly tally with the former one2 we shall blush for our inconstancy1 our indifference1 our imbecility1 which have led us to neglect such a pregnant communion4 ,not only persons but works of art produce this effect1 and they are those with whom it is the greatest benefit to live4 ,it is true that1 compared with ,giotto1 ,rembrandt1 or ,michael ,angelo1 ,drer does not appear comprehensive enough4 ,it is with him as with ,milton2 we wish to add others to his great gifts1 above all to take him out from his surroundings1 to free him from the accidents of place and time4 ,in one sense he is poorer than ,milton3 we cannot go to him as to a source of emotional exhilaration4 ,if he ever proves himself able so to stir us1 it is too occasionally to be a reason why we frequent him as it may be one why we frequent ,milton4 ,nevertheless1 the greater characters of control which are his in an unmatched degree1 his constancy1 his resource and deliberate effectiveness1 joined to that blandness1 that sunshine1 which seems so often to replace emotion and thought in works of image-shaping art1 are of priceless beneficence1 and with them we would abide4 ,intellectual passion may seem indeed sometimes to dissipate this sunshine and control without making good their loss4 ,such cases enable us to feel that the latter are more essential3 and it is these latter qualities which ,drer possessed in such fulness4 ,in return for our contemplation1 they build up within us the dignity of man and render it radiant and serene4 ,those who have felt their influence longest and most constantly will believe that they may well warrant the modern prophet who wrote3 ,the idea of beauty and of human nature perfect on all its sides1 which is the dominant idea of poetry1 is a true and invaluable idea1 though it has not yet had the success that the idea of conquering the obvious faults of our animality and of a human nature perfect on the moral side--which is the dominant idea of religion--has been enabled to have2 and it is destined1 adding to itself the religious idea of a devout energy1 to transform and govern the other4 ,,index ,aachen ,adam 7,melchor7 ,aeschylus ,albertina ,altdorfer 7,albrecht7 ,anabaptists ,andreae 7,hieronymus7 ,angelico 7,fra ,beato7 ,antwerpo ,apelles ,aristotle ,arnold 7,matthew7 ,augsburg ,balccarres 7,lord7 ,bamberg 7,library7 ,barbari 7,jacopo dei7 ,barberini 7,gallery7 ,barye 7,antoine ,louis7 ,basle ,baudelaire 7,charles7 ,bavaria ,beers 7,jan van7 ,beham 7,barthel and ,sebald7 ,behaim ,bellini 7,gentile7 ,bellini 7,giovanni7 ,berlin ,blake 7,william7 ,bologna ,bonnat 7,lon7 ,borgia 7,cesare7 ,borgia 7,alexander71 see ,pope ,botticelli ,bremen ,breslau 7,bishop of7 ,breughel 7,peter7 ,british ,museum4 ,browning 7,robert7 ,brussels ,brutus ,burgkmair 7,hans7 ,butler 7,bishop7 ,caietan 7,cardinal7 ,calvin ,camerarius 7,kunz ,kamerer7 ,carpaccio ,celtes 7,conrad7 ,charles ,v4 7,emperor7 ,cicero ,coleridge ,colet 7,dean7 ,colmar ,cologne 7,kln7 ,conway 7,sir ,martin7 ,cook 7,sir ,francis7 ,correggio ,cranach 7,lucas7 ,dante ,danube ,dodgson 7,campbell7 ,dolce 7,ludovico7 ,dresden ,drer 7,albert the ,elder7 ,drer 7,agnes1 nee ,frey7 ,drer1 ,andreas ,brothers and ,sisters ,father-in-law1 ,hans ,frey ,forefathers ,drer1 ,hans ,drer's ,house1 ,mother 7,barbara ,helper7 ,drer 7,quotations from71 ,drer's ,books3 ,art of ,fortification1 ,human ,proportions1 ,measurement with ,compass4 ,drawings3 ,adam's hand1 ,christ bearing ,his ,cross1 ,dance of monkeys1 ,himself1 ,lion1 ,lucas van ,leyden1 ,memento ,mei1 ,mein ,angnes1 ,mount of ,olives1 ,nepotis 7,florent71 ,pfaffroth 7,hans71 ,plankfelt 7,jobst71 ,sea-monsters1 ,women's ,bath1 ,walrus4 ,engravings on ,metal3 ,agony in the ,garden1 ,great ,fortune1 ,jerome 7,st471 ,knight 7,the71 ,melancholy1 ,passion4 ,pictures3 ,adam and ,eve1 ,adoration of ,magi1 ,avarice1 ,christ among ,doctors1 ,coronation of ,virgin1 ,crucifixion1 ,dresden ,altar ,piece1 ,feast of ,bose ,garlands1 ,hercules1 ,lucretia1 ,madonna with ,iris1 ,martyrdom of ,ten ,thousand1 ,paumgartner1 ,altar ,piece1 ,preachers 7,the ,pour71 ,road to ,calvary1 ,trinity and ,all ,saints4 ,portraits3 ,of himself1 ,leipzig1 ,madrid1 ,munich1 ,holzschuher 7,hieronymus71 ,imhof1 ,hans 7871 ,kleeberger 7,johannes7 ,krel 7,oswolt71 ,maximilian1 ,muffel 7,jacob71 ,orley 7,bernard van71 ,unknown 7,vienna71 ,unknown 7,hampton ,court71 ,unknown 7,boston7 ,unknown ,woman 7,berlin71 ,unknown ,girl 7,berlin71 ,wolgemut4 ,woodcuts3 ,apocalypse1 ,assumption of ,magdalen1 ,st4 ,christopher1 ,gate of ,honour1 ,jerome 7,st471 ,life of the ,virgin1 ,last ,supper1 ,little ,passion4 ,ebner ,eck 7,dr47 ,eckenstein 7,miss7 ,emerson ,erasmus ,euclid ,euripides ,eusebius ,eyck 7,jan van7 ,,flaubert 7,gustave7 ,florentine ,frankfort ,frederick the ,wise 7,elector of ,saxony7 ,frey 7,hans7 ,frey 7,felix71 ,fronde1 ,fugger1 ,furtwngler1 ,gainsborough1 ,ghent1 ,giehlom 7,dr4 ,carl71 ,giorgjone1 ,giotto1 ,goes 7,hugo vander7 ,goethe1 ,gospel of ,st4 ,luke1 ,st4 ,matthew1 ,st4 ,john1 ,grapheus 7,cornelius71 ,greece1 ,greeks1 ,greek1 ,grien 7,baldung71 ,heaton 7,mrs471 ,heller 7,jacob74 ,henry ,,viii1 ,hess 7,eoban71 ,hess 7,martin71 ,hippocrates1 ,hokusai1 ,holbein1 ,holzselraher1 ,homer1 ,humanists1 ,hungary1 ,hutten 7,ulrich von71 ,imhof 7,hans71 ,innsbruck1 ,jeanne ,d',arc1 ,jesus1 ,john 7,st471 ,jonson 7,ben71 ,juggernaut1 ,keats 7,john71 ,kolb 7,anton71 ,kratzer 7,nicholas71 ,kress 7,christopher71 ,lady ,margaret 7,governess of the ,netherlands71 ,landauer 7,matthew71 ,leipzig1 ,leonardo da ,vinci1 ,link 7,wenzel71 ,lippmann1 ,london1 ,longfellow1 ,lotto 7,lorenzo71 ,louvre1 ,lucas van ,leyden1 ,luther1 ,lutzelburger1 ,mabuse 7,jan de71 ,macbeth1 ,machiavelli4 ,madrid1 ,mantegna 7,andrea71 ,mantua1 ,manuel1 ,marcantonio1 ,mark 7,st471 ,marlowe1 ,maximilian ,i41 ,melanchthon1 ,mexico1 ,michael ,angelo1 ,miller 7,a4,w41 ,esq471 ,millet 7,jean ,francois71 ,miltitz1 ,milton1 ,montaigne1 ,monthly ,review1 ,montpelier 7,town ,council71 ,more1 ,morley 7,lord and ,lady71 ,moses1 ,muffel 7,jacob71 ,munich1 ,nassau1 ,neudrffer1 ,nietzsche1 ,ntzel 7,caspar71 ,orley 7,bernard van7 ,ostendorfer 7,michael7 ,pacioli 7,luca7 ,padua ,parrhasius ,paul 7,st47 ,paumgartner 7,stephan7 ,peasants' ,war ,penz 7,georg7 ,peter 7,st17 ,phidias ,pirkheimer 7,charitas7 7,philip7 7,willibald7 ,pitti 7,gallery7 ,plato ,pleydenwurf ,pliny ,polizemo ,polycleitus ,pope ,adrian ,,iv4 7,alexander ,,vi47 7,julius ,,ii47 7,leo ,x47 ,porto ,venere ,portugal ,prague ,praxiteles ,protogenes ,psalms ,rabelais ,raphael ,reformation1 ,reformers ,rembrandt ,renascence ,reuohlin 7,dr47 ,reynolds ,ricketts 7,c4 ,s47 ,rochefoucauld 7,la7 ,roger van der ,weyden ,rome ,rossetti 7,dante ,gabriel7 ,rubens 7,peter ,paul7 ,savonarola ,scheurl 7,christopher7 ,schongauer 7,martin7 ,schnsperger ,shannon 7,c4 ,h47 ,shakespeare ,sistine 7,chapel7 ,spalatin 7,george7 ,spengler 7,lazarus7 ,stabius 7,johannes7 ,stdel ,institut ,stromer 7,wolf7 ,strong 7,s4 ,a7 ,swift 7,dean7 ,teniers 7,david7 ,thawing 7,dr4 ,moritz7 ,titian ,tschertte 7,johannes7 ,uffizi 7,gallery7 ,ulm ,van ,dyck ,varnbler 7,ulrioh7 ,vasari ,velasquez ,venice ,veronese 7,paul7 ,verona ,verrall 7,dr47 ,vienna ,virgil ,vitruvius ,warham 7,archbishop7 ,watteail 7,antoine7 ,watts 7,g4 ,f47 ,weimar 7,grand ,ducal ,museum7 ,whistler 7,james ,mc,neil7 ,wittenberg ,wolfenbttel ,wolgemut ,wordsworth ,wrzburg 7,bishop of7 ,zeeland ,zeuxis