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Durer's ‘Four Apostles’ and the Dedication as a Form of Renaissance Art Patronage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Carl C. Christensen
Carl C. Christensen*
Affiliation:
University of Colorado
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Abstract

In early October 1526 Albrecht Dürer dedicated the greatest of his paintings, the two panels commonly known as the ‘Four Apostles,' to the city council of his native Nuernberg. Although the work was accompanied by a letter explaining the reasons for the gift, modern scholars nonetheless have continued to speculate as to the full intentions of the artist. The subject matter of the painting, as well as the Biblical passages incorporated as an inscription at the base of the work, has turned the attention of most commentators to the contemporary religious scene, i.e., the recent establishment of the Lutheran Reformation in the free imperial city. One can also, however, consider this problem profitably from a different perspective, taking as a point of departure the question of art patronage and the art market in the early sixteenth century. Existing evidence, when viewed in this manner, not only sheds new light on this particular donation but also serves as an interesting commentary on the economic situation of the artist of the period.

Type
Research Article
Information
Renaissance Quarterly , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , Autumn 1967 , pp. 325 - 334
Copyright
Copyright © Renaissance Society of America 1967

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References

1 The Writings ofAlbrecht Dürer, ed. and tr. by William Martin Conway (New York, 1958), p- 135- For the original German, see Dürer: Schriftlicher Nachlass, ed. by Hans Rupprich (Berlin, 1956), 1, 117.

2 Staatsarchiv, Nuernberg. Ratsbuch No. 13, f. 158a; also Nürnberger Ratsverlässe über Kunst und Künstler im Zeitalter der Spätgotik und Renaissance, ed. by Theodor Hampe (Vienna, 1904), Nos. 1527, 1529, and Rupprich, p. 243.

3 Staatsarchiv, Nuernberg. Stadtrechnungen No. 182, f. 203a; also Rupprich, p. 249.

4 Ludwig Grote, ‘Vom Handwerker zum Künstler. Das gesellschaftliche Ansehen Albrecht Diirers,’ Erlanger Forschungen, Reihe A: Geisteswissenschaften, xvi (1964), 41; also Ludwig, Grote, Dürer: Biographical and Critical Study, tr. by Helga, Harrison (Geneva, 1965), p . 122.Google Scholar

5 See the remarks scattered throughout Diirer's theoretical writings, as for example: ‘The arts are in themselves good. What God hath formed, that is good, misuse it how ye will.’ ‘God was angry with all destroyers of the works of great mastership, which is only attained by much toil, labour, and expenditure of time, and is bestowed by God alone’ (Conway, pp. 176, 178).

6 See Hans, Rupprich, Dürers Stellung zu den agnoëtischen und kunstjeindlichen Strömungen seiner Zeit (Munich, 1959).Google Scholar It might, at first glance, seem inappropriate that a Reformation- minded council be chosen as the recipient and custodian for a religious painting. But, in fact, during this very period the municipal authorities proved to be one of the strongest forces working for the preservation of ecclesiastical art. See Carl C. Christensen, ‘The Nuernberg City Council As A Patron of the Fine Arts, 1500-1550’ (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1965), pp. 173-191.1 hope to publish in the near future an article dealing with this theme.

7 Conway, p. 134; Rupprich, Schriftlicher Nachlass … , I, 210.

8 Albert, Dürer. His Life and Works, tr. by Fred A., Eaton (London, 1882), II, 271.Google Scholar

9 Gerhard, Pfeiffer, ‘Die Vorbilder zu Albrecht, Dürers “Vier Aposteln.” Melanchthon und sein Nürnberger Freundeskreis,’ Wissenschajtliche Beilage zum Jahresbericht des Melanchthon- Gymnasiums 1959/1960 (Nuernberg, 1960), pp. 26–27.Google Scholar

10 Grote, Dürer … , pp. 121-122. See also the fascinating attempt, in the above-cited work by Pfeiffer, to interpret the dedication as a memorial to the establishment in Nuernberg in 1526 of a new Lutheran Latin school, subsequently known as the Melanchthon Gymnasium.

11 This is stressed by Klaus, Lankheit, ‘Dürers “Vier Apostel”,’ Zeitschrift fiir Theologie und Kirche, XLIX (1952), 244 ff.Google Scholar

12 Albrecht Dürer, 3rd ed. rev. (Princeton, 1948), 1, 225 ff.; this view is rejected, however, in several more recent studies. See Kurt, Martin, Albrecht Dürer: Die Vier Apostel (Stuttgart, 1963), pp. 18–27.Google Scholar

13 ‘In the Quattrocento, in which there are only isolated cases of systematic collecting, the trading with works of art, independent of their producers, is almost unknown; it does not arise until the following century with the beginnings of a regular demand for monuments of the past and the buying up of works by famous masters of the present. The first fine-art dealer whom we know by name is the Florentine Giov. Batt. della Palla, who comes on the scene at the beginning of the sixteenth century’ (Arnold, Hauser, The Social History of Art, tr. by Stanley, Godman [New York, 1960], II, 42).Google Scholar For the origins of serious art collecting in post-Reformation Nuernberg, see Theodor Hampe, ‘Kunstfreunde im alten Nürnberg und ihre Sammlungen,’ Mitteilungen des Vereins für Geschkhte der Stadt Niirnberg, xvi (1904), 57-124. It is significant that it was Dürer's donation of the ‘Four Apostles’ which laid the foundation of a municipal art collection. See Wilhelm, Schwemmer, ‘Aus der Geschichte der Kunstsammlungen der Stadt Niirnberg,’ Mitteilungen des Vereins fur Geschichte der Stadt Nürnberg, XL (1949), 97.Google Scholar

14 The Literary Profession in the Elizabethan Age (Manchester, 1909), p. 11.

15 Samuel, Moore, ‘General Aspects of Literary Patronage in the Middle Ages,’ The Library, Third Series, IV (1913), 380.Google Scholar

16 See Archer, Taylor, Problems in German Literary History of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries (New York, 1939), p. 118.Google Scholar

17 George Haven, Putnam, Books and Their Makers During the Middle Ages (New York, 1897), 11, 434.Google Scholar

18 Text printed in Bernhard, Hartmann, ‘Konrad Celtis in Nürnberg,’ Mitteilungen des Vereins für Geschichte der Stadt Nürnberg, VIII (1889), 62–63.Google Scholar

19 Karl Julius, Holzknecht, ‘Literary Patronage in the Middle Ages’ (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1923), p. 133.Google Scholar

20 Celtis requested his manuscript back from the council in order that he might make some additions and corrections, and then allowed almost five years to elapse before finally publishing it.

21 The document can be found in ‘Urkundliche Beiträge zur Geschichte der Bücherei des Nürnberger Rates, 1429-153 8,’ ed. by Johann Petz, Mitteilungen des Vereins fur Geschichte der Stadt Nürnberg, VI (1886), 170.

22 Emil, Reicke, ‘Konrad Celtis und die Ehrengabe für seine Norimberga. Eine falsche Beschuldigung des Nürnberger Rats,’ Mitteilungen des Vereins für Geschichte der Stadt Nürnberg, XXXIV (1937), 102–103.Google Scholar

23 See the study by Reicke cited above.

24 Documentation for this and other cases can be found in Petz, pp. 171-174. See also the following studies: Paul, Kaegbein, Deutsche Ratsbüchereien bis zur Reformation (Leipzig, 1950). P- 15;Google Scholar Karlheinz, Goldmann, Geschichte der Stadtbibliothek Nürnberg (Nuernberg, 1957). pp- 10–11.Google Scholar

25 1, 206.

26 Conway, p. 119; Rupprich, Schriftlicher Nachlass … , I, 170.

27 Conway, p. 122; Rupprich, Schriftlicher Nachlass … , 1, 174.

28 Conway, p. 102; Rupprich, Schriftlicher Nachlass …, I, 155.

29 Conway, p. 104; Rupprich, Schriftlicher Nachlass … , 1, 157.

30 Conway, p. 105; Rupprich, Schriftlicher Nachlass …, 1, 158.

31 Conway, p. 121; Rupprich, Schriftlicher Nachlass … , I, 173.

32 Conway, p. 123; Rupprich, Schriftlicher Nachlass …, I, 175--176. The following entries reinforce the point: ‘Six people whose portraits I drew at Brussels have given me nothing.’ ‘I have also at one time and another done many drawings and other things to serve different people, and for the more part of my work have received nothing’ (Conway, pp. 102, 120; Rupprich, Schriftlicher Nachlass … , I, 156 and 173).

33 Stadtrechnungen No. 183, f. 338a.

34 Grote, ‘Vom Handwerker … ,’ p. 42.

35 Ratsbuch No. 15, f. 58a.

36 Ibid., f. 105a; Hampe, Nürnberger Ratsverlässe … , No. 1768.

37 Ratsbuch No. 16, f. 77a.

38 Stadtrechnungen No. 182, f. 386b; Hampe, Nürnberger Ratsverlässe … , No. 2033.

39 Hampe, Nürnberger Ratsverlässe … , Nos. 2225, 2237.

40 Stadtrechnungen No. 183, f. 41b.

41 Hampe, Nürnberger Ratsverlässe … , No. 2588.

42 Ibid., No. 2626.

43 Ibid., Nos. 2722, 2723.

44 Ibid., Nos. 2768, 2769.

45 For this point of view, see Grote, ‘Vom Handwerker … ,’ p. 41.

46 All of Dürer's oil paintings, because of his meticulous technique, cost him much in effort and materials. See Grote, Dürer … , pp. 8-9.