Albrecht Dürer: from Renaissance to Baroque. Evolution of theory

Abstract

The article is concerned to the study of how theoretical heritage of A. Dürer was interpreted by the authors of the German Baroque era in the 17th –18th cc. It reviews three characteristic sources for that epoch: the first in the 17th century re-issue of Dürer’s works; an essay about the master’s heritage, written by a prominent German Baroque theoretician Joachim von Sandrart; the mention of Dürer in the work of Johann Jacob Schübler, a master of mature German baroque of the 18th c. Those aspects of the work of the German Renaissance master that were relevant in the context of theoretical searches of the Baroque are revealed, in particular, questions of the transfer of volume and lighting, so important for both painting and sculpture of their time. The clarification of the reasons for the relevance of the ideas of Dürer for the Baroque era confirms the hypothesis that in the 17th –18th cc. the theoretical heritage of that master was of practical importance, was actively used – both by artists in terms of iconography, and by theoreticians who noted important for the culture of the Baroque effects, which could be achieved through following the teachings of Dürer. First of all, it is worth to raise the question of the image alikeness, as well as an understanding of the relativity of human beauty, which depends on the opinion of the majority of viewers. Those aspects of Dürer’s theory and its interpretation had a great influence, for example, on Baroque sculpture, which as an independent object quite rarely appears in the theoretical works of the Baroque.