"Durer's imagination opens up a world perhaps even more colorful than the one we ourselves see every day, but the colors of this world are iridescent and ethereal, so otherworldly that there is no possibility of painting them. Only form, movement, mood."
this is the inscription that welcomes us to the exhibition of the works by the serigraph artist Albrecht Dürer,which took place in the city of Bagnacavallo (Italy) some time ago.
"Two fools plowing" 1493
Serigraph is a process that allows you to print multiple copies of the work precisely because the artist works by creating steel or wooden molds.
"Fool with a feather"
Unfortunately, the matrices used for printing were not present at the exhibition, but it is possible to find their images on the internet.
In this case the illustration is created from the non-hollow parts of the mold and the meticulousness of the artist in creating them is almost frightening.🤯
The city of Nuremberg witnessed the birth and death of the artist
Inside it there is one of the most important statues that represent him.
"Universal judgment"
Albrecht was born in 1484, the son of a goldsmith, he learned the art of metal engraving thanks to his father, he made his first works in the family workshop and then devoted himself to painting portraits
"the knight, death and the devil" 1513
the illustration of "the knight, death and the devil" is one of the most famous works and highlights the crisis of the Catholic world tempted by flattery, wealth and power.
coincidentally 4 years later the creation of this work Martin Luther gave birth to the Protestant Catholic religion.
It is said that Adolf Hitler had an original print of this work in his office
"The antichrist"
His artistic training takes place in various countries including Germany, Holland, France and Switzerland.
He is also influenced by Italian art, some of his mentors are Giovanni Bellini and Leonardo Da Vinci.
It is a very cool fact that Leonardo influenced multiple artists around the world during his life.
"Four horsemen of the apocalypse"
A curiosity about Albrecht Dürer is that he was one of the early adopters of copyright!
In fact, he asked the emperor for an act that would protect his signature so that no one could counterfeit his works 'legally'.
"Saint John Devouring the Book"
He soon realized that his prints were highly appreciated by the community and this allowed him to work in complete autonomy.
One of his masterpieces is a collection of "apocalypse" themed prints.
"The Coat-of-Arms with the Skull"
one of the facts that amazes me the most is the production of this artist, in fact in addition to making prints, he paints, draws and also writes books in which he discussed anatomy and perspective.
the goal of his books was to make the artist a man of thought and not just of technique.
To be something that goes beyond just being a craftsman in a shop.
a very interesting vision at the time.🧐
"Rhinoceros"
The illustration of this rhino is not done based on a 'real' model,
it was made using the approximate description and a sketch made by a friend of his from Nuremberg.
"the Madonna of the monkey"
what I showed you with this post is only a very small part of all the works made by him,
i recommend you to explore the story behind this super-talented artist.💪