Albrecht Dürer's afterlife

Abstract

Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) enjoyed European-wide fame during his lifetime. Dürer was not only a brilliant painter, but also a pioneering printmaker, experimental draughtsman, book publisher, first German art theoretician and amateur poet. His art was avidly collected, repeatedly copied in diverse media, and often forged. Then, with his death, the posthumous Dürers were born. This book addresses his afterlife or, more correctly, afterlives. Beginning with the heartfelt eulogies of his friends and the creation of contemporary portraits of the Nuremberg master, Dürer's person, his likenesses, and his art have been celebrated for over five hundred years. Our contemporary Dürer is the subject of intense scholarly discussions on the one hand and of social and commercial popularization on the other hand.

Contents

Self-fashioning and posthumous futures -- The Dürer Renaissance -- The authority and appeal of Dürer's prints -- The written story of Albrecht Dürer -- Dürer and the German Romantics -- Celebrating Dürer -- Dürer's institutional canonization -- The popularization of Dürer -- Whose Dürer? -- Dürer unleashed.