Portret van Albrecht Dürer 1780s

This is a portrait of Albrecht Dürer, made anonymously as an engraving. Dürer, a towering figure of the Northern Renaissance, lived in a time of immense social and religious upheaval. The Protestant Reformation challenged the Catholic Church's authority, sparking intense debates about faith, art, and individual expression. Consider how Dürer’s own identity as an artist intersects with broader societal shifts. His meticulous self-portraits weren't mere likenesses; they were assertions of the artist as an intellectual, a craftsman, and a man of faith. The inscription accompanying the image reflects the humanist ideals of the era, emphasizing individual achievement. What does it mean to portray oneself, or to be portrayed, in a society grappling with new ideas about selfhood and belief? This image serves as a reminder that art is always entangled with the complex realities of identity, history, and culture.