Sammelband containing De Symmetria Partium (1532), De Varietate Figurarum (1534), Etliche underricht zu befestigung der Stett Schloss und Flecke (1527), and Underweysung der Messung (1538)

1525·Book of letterpress text and woodcut illustations on cream laid paper, extra illustrated with a woodcut in black on ivory laid paper, tipped in after the front flyleaf; in full alum-tawed pigskin over beveled wooden boards, sewn on raised thongs, blind tooled ‘all-over’ with small tools, with two brass hook-clasp fastenings and hand-sewn headbands·Sheet: 29.2 × 20 cm (11 1/2 × 7 7/8 in.)

A posthumous impression of Albrecht Dürer’s first Knot has been tipped in opposite the frontispiece of this copy of On Human Proportion, Dürer’s book on anatomy for artists. It is the first element in a collected volume of late editions of several texts by the master (On Human Proportion, 1532–38, On Fortifications, 1527, and The Painter’s Manual, 1538). This second state of the woodcut is the only one to include an ad monogram. Dürer’s fame was already such that his eminently recognizable nested initials had become an ornamental motif in their own right. Annotations on the print’s verso date it to August 14, 1606, about when the sheet was reprinted and probably when it was purchased.

Catalogue

Year: 1525
Medium: Book of letterpress text and woodcut illustations on cream laid paper, extra illustrated with a woodcut in black on ivory laid paper, tipped in after the front flyleaf; in full alum-tawed pigskin over beveled wooden boards, sewn on raised thongs, blind tooled ‘all-over’ with small tools, with two brass hook-clasp fastenings and hand-sewn headbands
Dimensions: Sheet: 29.2 × 20 cm (11 1/2 × 7 7/8 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Albrecht Dürer

Artist

Albrecht Dürer

Painting

Albrecht Dürer, sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, printmaker, and theorist of the German Renaissance. Born in Nuremberg, Dürer established his reputation and influence across Europe in his twenties due to his high-quality woodcut prints. He was in contact with the major Italian artists of his time, including Raphael, Giovanni Bellini and Leonardo da Vinci, and from 1512 was patronized by Emperor Maximilian I.

Nuremberg, Germany

Full artist profile →