Friday, August 5, 2016

Open post: Kathleen and Patrick on holiday - The Albrecht Dürer-House in Nuremberg


By Patrick

I have to admit that I cannot stop reading about Donald Trump these days, because it is just too fascinating how he is falling apart, but this post won't be about him, because we need a little educational break! Kathleen and I are traveling again, visiting some more nice spots in Germany. This time: Nuremberg.

I lived in Nuremberg for a few years in the past, but Kathleen had never been here before. It is a beautiful city with lots of important history, medieval and more recent. We visited several places, and today I would like to present the Dürer-house. Albrecht Dürer is one of the most famous painters of the Renaissance, and his legacy is on display in Nuremberg, his home town, as his former house survived and has been turned into a museum.

The house itself and the medieval square in front of the house survived the war and is a beautiful monument of medieval Nuremberg, with the Imperial Castle in the background (click on pictures to enlarge):



The Dürer-house:


Inside the house - a working example of a press for copper engravings:




Several plates on dispay:



The tools for woodcuts:


The making of paint in the middle ages on display:





Next to the Dürer-house, an exhibition room was built. On display are several excellent copies of Dürer-paintings, as the originals are invaluable, and in the possession of major museums around the world. The most stunning picture was an exact copy of the famous "Adam & Eve" painting:


The old kitchen:


The staircase:


View from the house to the Imperial Castle:


Finally, I would like to present Dürer's most famous copper engravings, his three so called "Master engravings" (also called "Master Prints") - click here for more details. Kathleen and I were very lucky to find perfect copies of the first two engravings in a shop next to the museum. These were produced by the German State printing house in 1947. The German state was the institution which in the past produced perfect copies of Dürer's engravings (not any more, though), and they are quite rare to find.

Please click to enlarge (high-resolution pictures), I recommend right-click and "open in new tab":

"Knight, Death, and the Devil":


"Melencolia I":



"St. Jerome in his Study":


Have a nice weekend, everybody!

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BONUS:

Our reader "Gavidis" gave me this idea - here is Albrecht Dürer's "Young Hare" in its full glory, again in high-resolution:


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ADDITION TO THE BONUS:

Reading about the picture "Young Hare" on the internet, I learned a very fascinating fact: The level of detail in Albrecht Dürer's picture is so high, that Dürer actually included the windows of his workshop as a reflection in the right eye of the hare!

The high-resolution copy I found so far was not sufficient to see that, but fortunately the "Google Art Project" offers the "ultra high-resolution", so to speak.

Here is the eye in the highest resolution - screenshot:


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BONUS 2:

Here is a high-resolution picture of Albrecht Dürer's famous "Adam & Eve" painting, which is on display in the Prado in Madrid.


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