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Albrecht Dürer The Apocalypse
作品估价：GBP 80,000 - 120,000
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26%
图录号：
618
拍品名称：
Albrecht Dürer The Apocalypse
拍品描述：
Albrecht Dürer
1471 - 1528
The Apocalypse
a rare complete set, comprising 15 woodcuts and the illustrated title page on laid paper, most with a Flower with Triangle (Briquet 6485) or Tower with Crown (Br. 15863) watermark
1496-1511
very good to good impressions, some printing dryly in places, from the Latin text edition of 1511
each sheet (approx.): 395 by 280 mm. 15½ by 11 in.
(16 prints)
Ex coll. Giuseppe Storck, Milan, his inscription on B. 73, verso (cf. L. 2318)
Acquired by a private American collector, 1950s
Thence by descent to the present owners
Bartsch 60-75; Meder 163-178; Schoch Mende Scherbaum 111-126
The humanist and Roman Catholic reformer Erasmus of Rotterdam (1469-1536), whom Albrecht Dürer portrayed in an engraving of 1526, extolled Albrecht Dürer as the ‘Apelles of black lines.’ Today, the artist is recognised as ‘the genius of the German Renaissance.’ Born in Gothic Nuremberg in 1471, he was one of the first artists to adopt the creative achievements that were burgeoning in Renaissance Italy, charging them with the distinctive characteristics of Northern European culture. Through his mastery of woodcut printing and engraving, he revolutionised the way art was circulated and appreciated throughout Europe. Over the span of his career, Dürer created approximately seven hundred woodcuts and intaglio prints, many of which were made for early illustrated books.
The ‘Apocalypse with Pictures’ represents the artist’s self-conscious declaration of artistic genius that helped him secure international fame.1 The Apocalypse, or Revelations of John the Divine, is remarkable for being the first European book to be published and illustrated by a major artist.2 It was printed in German in 1498 - just three years after the artist opened his workshop in 1495. It was then printed in Latin in 1498, and subsequently in 1511 – the edition of the present work. The artist created a new title page for the 1511 edition, in which John the Evangelist takes inspiration from the Virgin and Child before the opening to Heaven. The translation into Latin ensured the accessibility of The Apocalypse to audiences throughout Europe, and indeed established Dürer as a household name throughout Western Europe.
The bold artistic conception and wide circulation of the artist’s first book project combined to make it one of the most powerful graphic sensations in the history of art. Dürer succeeded in concentrating complex biblical texts into fifteen scenes of enormous dramatic power, with full page images that are revolutionary in size, technique and approach. As the business entrepreneur that he was, the artist was aware of the enormous commercial potential of illustrated books, hitherto 15th century bibles and block books. He borrowed ideas and motifs from a bible of 1483 printed by his godfather Anton Koberger (circa 1440-1513, see fig. 1).
Each of Dürer’s full page woodcuts represent an exponential leap from the small, primitive woodcut illustrations embedded in the bible text to a fully fledged, independent work of art, with the bible text on the reverse. In this way, the artist’s woodcuts were presented ahead of the writings, stressing the prime importance of his artwork. As Giulia Bartrum points out, the woodcuts are the true successors of the superb early medieval manuscripts of Apocalypse scenes.3 Technically, Dürer’s woodcuts adapt refinements associated with engraving, such as complex cross hatching and tapering lines, allowing for dramatic lighting and psychological nuance.4
Dürer’s choice of the Apocalypse must have been determined as much by the imminent half millennium as it was by the traditional 15th century bibles and block books. The dawn of every new millennium sparks excitement, but also a great fear of the unknown. On December 31, 1999, the world held its collective breath at midnight, awaiting the Y2K computer apocalypse. Five centuries earlier on the eve of 1500, European Christians anticipated a more terrifying cosmic apocalypse. Those who subscribed to The Book of Revelation believed that the year 1500 - the “half-time after the time” - would usher in the end of the world. According to this last instalment of the New Testament, the coming of the Kingdom of God was near; the earthly realm would be savagely destroyed and only the righteous would survive to see the Messianic Kingdom. 1500 was also the year of Jubilee, in which the faithful may be granted remission of sins by the Catholic Church and occurring every quarter of a century.
Of Dürer's illustrated title page and fifteen phenomenal woodcuts - including famous subjects such as The Apocalyptic Woman, The Four Angels Holding the Winds, The Beast with Two Horns Like a Lamb - The Four Horsemen has become the most iconic. Illustrating the passage in Revelations 6, verses 1-8, Dürer has achieved an unprecedented three dimensionality and a dynamic sense of movement through the strong diagonal motion of the four horses, who collectively complete the full galloping movement from bent to outstretched foreleg – to almost filmic effect. The right border cuts off the fourth horse, suggesting continuity beyond it. Death thunders out from the left, looking starved for victims on his pale, emaciated horse. He is joined by Famine, who brandishes his scales, as well as War and Plague, who lead the charge with their sword and bow. Together the Four Horsemen trample every human in their path, while the reptilian maw of hell opens behind them, in the act of swallowing a ruler wearing a bishop’s mitre combined with an Emperor’s crown, reminding us that this is a work of the protestant Reformation.
Through combining visionary invention and contemporary dress and landscape, the artist made the set relatable to his audiences, who could envisage the Apocalypse unfolding in their German countryside. The sensational impact of The Apocalypse on the history of printmaking has never been matched. It was only with the visionary and primal woodcuts of Edvard Munch and Paul Gauguin in the late 19th century and the Die Brücke group of Expressionists which formed in 1905, that the woodcut became great again. The commercial success of The Apocalypse marked not only the beginning of Dürer’s widespread popularity as an artist, but also the revolutionary rise of the print market as a whole.
1 The Morgan Library & Museum: Nuremberg: Dürer and Humanism https://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/online/imperial-splendor/apocalypse-pictures
2 Giulia Bartrum et al, Albrecht Dürer and his Legacy, cat. no. 57
3 ibid
4 The Morgan Library & Museum, op cit
1471 - 1528
The Apocalypse
a rare complete set, comprising 15 woodcuts and the illustrated title page on laid paper, most with a Flower with Triangle (Briquet 6485) or Tower with Crown (Br. 15863) watermark
1496-1511
very good to good impressions, some printing dryly in places, from the Latin text edition of 1511
each sheet (approx.): 395 by 280 mm. 15½ by 11 in.
(16 prints)
Ex coll. Giuseppe Storck, Milan, his inscription on B. 73, verso (cf. L. 2318)
Acquired by a private American collector, 1950s
Thence by descent to the present owners
Bartsch 60-75; Meder 163-178; Schoch Mende Scherbaum 111-126
The humanist and Roman Catholic reformer Erasmus of Rotterdam (1469-1536), whom Albrecht Dürer portrayed in an engraving of 1526, extolled Albrecht Dürer as the ‘Apelles of black lines.’ Today, the artist is recognised as ‘the genius of the German Renaissance.’ Born in Gothic Nuremberg in 1471, he was one of the first artists to adopt the creative achievements that were burgeoning in Renaissance Italy, charging them with the distinctive characteristics of Northern European culture. Through his mastery of woodcut printing and engraving, he revolutionised the way art was circulated and appreciated throughout Europe. Over the span of his career, Dürer created approximately seven hundred woodcuts and intaglio prints, many of which were made for early illustrated books.
The ‘Apocalypse with Pictures’ represents the artist’s self-conscious declaration of artistic genius that helped him secure international fame.1 The Apocalypse, or Revelations of John the Divine, is remarkable for being the first European book to be published and illustrated by a major artist.2 It was printed in German in 1498 - just three years after the artist opened his workshop in 1495. It was then printed in Latin in 1498, and subsequently in 1511 – the edition of the present work. The artist created a new title page for the 1511 edition, in which John the Evangelist takes inspiration from the Virgin and Child before the opening to Heaven. The translation into Latin ensured the accessibility of The Apocalypse to audiences throughout Europe, and indeed established Dürer as a household name throughout Western Europe.
The bold artistic conception and wide circulation of the artist’s first book project combined to make it one of the most powerful graphic sensations in the history of art. Dürer succeeded in concentrating complex biblical texts into fifteen scenes of enormous dramatic power, with full page images that are revolutionary in size, technique and approach. As the business entrepreneur that he was, the artist was aware of the enormous commercial potential of illustrated books, hitherto 15th century bibles and block books. He borrowed ideas and motifs from a bible of 1483 printed by his godfather Anton Koberger (circa 1440-1513, see fig. 1).
Each of Dürer’s full page woodcuts represent an exponential leap from the small, primitive woodcut illustrations embedded in the bible text to a fully fledged, independent work of art, with the bible text on the reverse. In this way, the artist’s woodcuts were presented ahead of the writings, stressing the prime importance of his artwork. As Giulia Bartrum points out, the woodcuts are the true successors of the superb early medieval manuscripts of Apocalypse scenes.3 Technically, Dürer’s woodcuts adapt refinements associated with engraving, such as complex cross hatching and tapering lines, allowing for dramatic lighting and psychological nuance.4
Dürer’s choice of the Apocalypse must have been determined as much by the imminent half millennium as it was by the traditional 15th century bibles and block books. The dawn of every new millennium sparks excitement, but also a great fear of the unknown. On December 31, 1999, the world held its collective breath at midnight, awaiting the Y2K computer apocalypse. Five centuries earlier on the eve of 1500, European Christians anticipated a more terrifying cosmic apocalypse. Those who subscribed to The Book of Revelation believed that the year 1500 - the “half-time after the time” - would usher in the end of the world. According to this last instalment of the New Testament, the coming of the Kingdom of God was near; the earthly realm would be savagely destroyed and only the righteous would survive to see the Messianic Kingdom. 1500 was also the year of Jubilee, in which the faithful may be granted remission of sins by the Catholic Church and occurring every quarter of a century.
Of Dürer's illustrated title page and fifteen phenomenal woodcuts - including famous subjects such as The Apocalyptic Woman, The Four Angels Holding the Winds, The Beast with Two Horns Like a Lamb - The Four Horsemen has become the most iconic. Illustrating the passage in Revelations 6, verses 1-8, Dürer has achieved an unprecedented three dimensionality and a dynamic sense of movement through the strong diagonal motion of the four horses, who collectively complete the full galloping movement from bent to outstretched foreleg – to almost filmic effect. The right border cuts off the fourth horse, suggesting continuity beyond it. Death thunders out from the left, looking starved for victims on his pale, emaciated horse. He is joined by Famine, who brandishes his scales, as well as War and Plague, who lead the charge with their sword and bow. Together the Four Horsemen trample every human in their path, while the reptilian maw of hell opens behind them, in the act of swallowing a ruler wearing a bishop’s mitre combined with an Emperor’s crown, reminding us that this is a work of the protestant Reformation.
Through combining visionary invention and contemporary dress and landscape, the artist made the set relatable to his audiences, who could envisage the Apocalypse unfolding in their German countryside. The sensational impact of The Apocalypse on the history of printmaking has never been matched. It was only with the visionary and primal woodcuts of Edvard Munch and Paul Gauguin in the late 19th century and the Die Brücke group of Expressionists which formed in 1905, that the woodcut became great again. The commercial success of The Apocalypse marked not only the beginning of Dürer’s widespread popularity as an artist, but also the revolutionary rise of the print market as a whole.
1 The Morgan Library & Museum: Nuremberg: Dürer and Humanism https://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/online/imperial-splendor/apocalypse-pictures
2 Giulia Bartrum et al, Albrecht Dürer and his Legacy, cat. no. 57
3 ibid
4 The Morgan Library & Museum, op cit