The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer

by Erwin Panofsky

This classic text presents the life, times, and works of Albrecht Dürer. Through the skill and immense knowledge of Erwin Panofsky, the reader is dazzled not only by Dürer the artist but also Dürer in a wide array of other roles, including mathematician and scientific thinker. Originally published in 1943 in two volumes, The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer met with such wide popular and scholarly acclaim that it led to three editions and then, in 1955, to the first one-volume edition. Without sacrifice of text or illustrations, the book was reduced to this single volume by the omission of the Handlist and Concordance . The new introduction by Jeffrey Chipps Smith reflects upon Panofsky the man, the tumultuous circumstances surrounding the creation of his masterful monograph, its innovative contents, and its early critical reception. Erwin Panofsky was one of the most important art historians of the twentieth century. Panofsky taught for many years at Hamburg University but was forced by the Nazis to leave Germany. He joined the faculty at the Institute for Advanced Study in 1935, where he spent the remainder of his career and wrote The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer . He developed an iconographic approach to art and interpreted works through an analysis of symbolism, history, and social factors.

This book, one of his most important, is a comprehensive study of painter and printmaker Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), the greatest exponent of northern European Renaissance art. Although an important painter, Dürer was most renowned for his graphic works. Artists across Europe admired and copied his innovative and powerful prints, ranging from religious and mythological scenes to maps and exotic animals. The book covers Dürer's entire career in exacting detail. With multiple indexes and more than three hundred illustrations, it has served as an indispensable reference, remaining crucial to an understanding of the work of the great artist and printmaker. Subsequent Dürer studies have necessarily made reference to Panofsky's masterpiece. Panofsky's work continues to be admired for the author's immense erudition, subtlety of appreciation, technical knowledge, and profound analyses.

Genres: Art, Art History, Biography, History, Renaissance, Nonfiction, Germany

520 pages, Paperback

First published June 21, 1955

About the author

Erwin Panofsky was a German art historian, whose academic career was pursued almost entirely in the U.S. after the rise of the Nazi regime. In 1935, while teaching concurrently at New York University and Princeton University (something he continued to do his entire career), he was invited to join the faculty of the newly formed Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. From 1947 to 1948 Panofsky was the Charles Eliot Norton professor at Harvard University.

Panofsky's work remains highly influential in the modern academic study of iconography. Many of his works remain in print, including Studies in Iconology: Humanist Themes in the Art of the Renaissance (1939), and his eponymous 1943 study of Albrecht Dürer. His work has greatly influenced the theory of taste developed by French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, in books such as The Rules of Art or Distinction. In particular, Bourdieu first adapted his notion of habitus from Panofsky's Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism.

Reviews

[Steve Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the kind of book you might expect from an academician who devoted his life to one artist. Panofsky makes many relevant, astute observations about Durer's work and technique, but you have to wade through lots of stuff like "...the position of the 3rd putti's arm in Durer's 53rd ascension woodcut resembles that of several angels in his apocalypse which points to a reinforcing of a tendency towards plasticity...". While this isn't an actual quote, and barely a coherent statement, it does resemble many actual sentences in this book. In fact, my frustration level reached a point where I may even have churlishly referred to his prose as 'turgid'.

Be that as it may, the larger points made here regarding Durer's influences, his place in the larger sweep of art history, and especially the evolution of his aesthetics make slogging through the less relevant (and sadly more numerous) details less painful - though still no walk in the park.

Elements of biography serve as a skeleton to the meat of Panofsky's art criticism in such a way that if the book were a human body, its bones would forever be snapping beneath the weight of its bulging sinews. I mean, I wish there was more here about Durer's actual life. It seems Panofsky's turg... weighty writing style is infectious.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by renowned art historian, focuses on art & life of German printmaker (engravings/woodcuts). A local museum has exhibition of his work so am learning about him. The detail on his engravings is exquisite.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Come c'era da aspettarsi, questo è più un trattato di storia dell'arte di una biografia, e da questo punto di vista è ottimo. Non si occupa solo di spiegare, con dovizia di dettagli, l'aspetto fisico/estetico delle opere di Dürer, ma cerca anche di interpretarne il lato psicologico e spirituale, il che è senza dubbio l'aspetto più interessante. Il saggio fa un ottimo lavoro sia nel contestualizzare il lavoro di Dürer all'interno dell'arte tardomedievale/rinascimentale sia nel mettere in luce gli aspetti di novità presenti nel suo operato e lo fa con uno stile descrittivo ma scorrevole, accessibile anche a chi non è particolarmente in materia. Di conseguenza, è un ottimo libro per analizzare un artista così affascinante.

[Filip Wijnings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nu al heerlijk, maar God wat had ik graag meer voorkennis gehad in het effect van droge naalden op koperen platen...

[Jacques le fataliste et son maître · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dürer che guarda all’Italia e ai Paesi bassi, studia matematica, geometria, fisiologia, i classici, ammira le opere d’arte che provengono dal Nuovo mondo, dialoga con umanisti, teologi, artisti, sperimenta, si interroga, si macera su Lutero ed Erasmo…
Si assiste alla formazione di una persona, di un artista, di un’arte, dell’umanesimo tedesco, addirittura di una sorta di protoromanticismo ecc.
Un’opera importante, di grande chiarezza.
L’insufficienza dell’apparato iconografico si fa sentire dolorosamente — meno male che c’è il web (ma le immagini del Libro d’ore dell’imperatore Massimiliano I, di qualità accettabile, non le ho trovate da nessuna parte…).

«Un incidente quasi patetico rivela come [la] riverenza per il genio potesse fondersi nella mente di Dürer con quello che si potrebbe definire culto delle reliquie. Nel 1515 Raffaello gli aveva mandato un disegno a sanguigna che raffigurava due nudi, splendidi nella posa e nel modellato. Su di esso Dürer dapprima notò la data della ricezione e, dopo la morte di Raffaello nel 1520, aggiunse la seguente iscrizione in memoriam: “Raffaello di Urbino, che fu tenuto in tanta considerazione dal Papa, ha fatto questi nudi e li ha mandati a Norimberga, a Albrecht Dürer, per mostrargli la sua mano.” I critici moderni si sono resi conto che questo disegno non fu eseguito da Raffaello stesso, ma lo hanno giustamente attribuito a un membro della sua bottega (Francesco Penni o, più probabilmente, Giulio Romano), giungendo alla conclusione che l’iscrizione è un falso. Questa conclusione è però sbagliata. L’iscrizione è certamente eseguita da Dürer. Egli stesso fu tratto in inganno e quest’errore rivela più di ogni altra cosa quanto il suo punto di vista fosse inconciliabile con quello dei suoi colleghi italiani. Per Raffaello era una cosa più che ovvia donare al collega tedesco il miglior esemplare disponibile di uno stile della cui creazione egli si sentiva responsabile, senza preoccuparsi se l’esecuzione manuale era sua o di un allievo. Per Dürer invece era certo che un maestro italiano da lui rispettato e amato avesse soltanto potuto voler “mostrargli la sua mano”, la mano di un individuo scelto da Dio.»

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything you want to know about Albrecht Durer!

[Isabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in the excellent French translation.
Un génie est un génie est un génie.
Magnifiquement écrit, dense, la vie à travers l'oeuvre, une vie un peu en lambeaux, ça fait si loin.