By Lindsay Cusworth
Albrecht D?rer''s prints provide more than just brilliant depictions of Bible stories. They offer unique insight into a man who profoundly affected the world and his relationship with the city of Nuremberg which was the cultural hub of Europe in the late 15th century.
'D?rer is often seen as the greatest visual artist of the Northern Renaissance,' said Kathryn Isaak, professor of humanities, classics and comparative literature. 'This is probably due in part to the fact that he absorbed the ideas of the Italian Renaissance artists and adapted them to his own time and place.'
Students can see a handful of original prints made by D?rer in one of the Museum of Art''s current exhibitions, titled 'Beholding Salvation: Images of Christ.' The exhibit is free and will be available until June.
D?rer was a painter, printmaker, mathematician, naturalist and a spiritual man. One of his most influential contributions to society was his work with woodcuts, making it possible for multiple prints of his works to be copied and distributed around Europe.
'D?rer''s woodcuts and engravings are almost unparalleled in their overall magnificence but especially in their meticulous detail,' Isaak said. 'When you look closely at a D?rer woodcut, you are astonished at the seemingly innumerable lines of varying depths and widths that make up the piece. What may initially look like a simple line drawing suddenly becomes much more interesting and complex when you think that each line or groove, from the largest to the smallest, has been finely carved into the woodblock by D?rer himself.'
One of the prints on display in the MOA, 'The Mocking of Christ,' shows Christ displaying wounds of the crucifixion. The piece is intended to elicit strong feelings of remorse on the part of the sinner, to stir up guilt and to be a deterrent from further transgressions.
D?rer''s prints were widely popular for depicting religious scenes and introducing animals from foreign lands. In a society where photographs and instant communication did not yet exist, he made it possible to copy images and texts in order to send information quicker and by much higher numbers.
'Humanism, the Renaissance and the Reformation were all huge upheavals that changed aspects of life,' said Robert McFarland, professor of German. 'D?rer was very involved with all of them. He fits the term ''Renaissance man perfectly.'''
During D?rer''s time, Nuremberg was the cultural hub of Europe and a leading city in craftsmanship. McFarland recently took a group of students on a study abroad to Berlin. Before the program started, he took his students to Nuremberg to visit the home and workshop of Albrecht D?rer.
'I am amazed at his political and economic genius,' McFarland said. 'His workshop was a well-oiled machine. It was both a gallery and a workshop and was the epitome of Nuremberg''s skilled culture.'
One of the study abroad students said her experience visiting D?rer''s workshop and seeing the environment where he created so many brilliant pieces helped her understand him as a painter.
'You can look at any piece of art and try to understand it,' said Ashley Peterson, from Greenwich, Conn., majoring in international relations. 'But seeing where he painted gave me a better understanding of who he was and what art meant to him.'