GERMAN SCHOOL OF ENGRAVING. 



i"!, on tho whole, fo fiiperiur to that of \m Melancholy, and 

 fo:no other of his fubfoqucut works, as leaves us either to 

 wonder that Albert Durer, having once attained, fhould 

 ever lo.l: fight of tlie excellence of its principles ; or to 

 infer that he did not perceive their excellence, or tliat 

 the fcience he dedi:red from his own obfervation of 

 nature prevailed but occafionally over the prejudices of his 

 tdiication. 



In his fmall prin's of the life of Chrill, of which Marc 

 Antor.io is faid to have pirnled the copy-right, other in- 

 llances occur of this Ityle of fuperior fimphcity in the dra- 

 peries, and fomc of broad and captivating effefts of light 

 and (liade. His Jefus Ciiriil fuffcrs greatly, or beams with 

 God-like benevolence ; his Magdalens and Madonnas are 

 fom-.-times divinely pathetic ; and many other of the heads 

 in thefe iiiterefling and often grand compofitions, are exqui- 

 fitely finiflied miniatures, remarkable for that fort of accord- 

 ance and confillency of parts which we d'.-em the internal 

 evidence of truth and nature. The principal portraits of 

 Durer, engraved on copper, arc thofe ot the eleftor 

 Trederic of Saxony, dated MDXXIIII. Albert, eleftor 

 of Mayence, dated 1523. Biiibald Pirkheimer, dated 

 1524. Mclanfthon, dated 1525. Thefe are all of the 

 quarto C\zs. 



In folio he has engraven his friend Erafnun, good inn- 

 prefTions of which are now become very rare, dated 1526, and 

 two figures of liimfelf, on the fame plale, ov.e being his 

 portrait in the year 1509, and the other in 151 7. Tliey 

 fland on cither fido of a piece of architefture. 



Of the portraits of Durer, it may with truth be faid, that, 

 in point of drawing, they pofFefs tlio fame internal evidence of 

 correclnefs wliichdiftingniihes the belt of his hiitorical heads : 

 in rtyle they arc laboured ; but the labour is not ill-bellowed ; 

 and the chiarofcuro is frequently comprehenfive and clear. 

 His compofitions from holy writ, and thofe legends which 

 in his day were thought to be nearly of equal authority, are 

 numerous. The principal of thofe on copper are " The 

 Adam and Eve in Paradife, or Sin of our fird Parents,'' 

 which has already been the fubjeA of detailed ccmm->nt, a 

 rerv elaborate work in folio, dated 1 504. Another " Adam 

 and Eve," which reprefents them after their expulfion from 

 Paradife. " Adam crawling, and Eve fitting v.itli an In- 

 fant at the Entrance of a Cavern,'" in quarto. " A Man 

 with a Beard, feated on the Ground (liis Horfe fallened to a 

 Tree) carcffing a Yming Woman,'' a fmall quarto plate, 

 known. Ijy the name of " .ludah and Tamar," and believed 

 to be the earlicft of Albert Dnrer's engravings. " Tlie 

 Nativity," where the Virgi:a Mary is adoring the Infant 

 Chrift, while St. Jofeph is drawing water from a well. 

 " A Holy Family,'" known, among connoiffeurs, by the 

 title of " Tiie 'Virgin of the Butterfly,'" where the Madonna 

 is feated in a iandfcape, with the infant in her arms, and 

 St. Jofeph adeep near her. Another, known by the tit'e 

 «»f " Tiie 'Virgin of the Ape," where the Infant Chril!, 

 kneeling, is plaving with a bird, and an ape is tied near the 

 group. Another, known by the title of " The Virgin of 

 the Pear,"' which is dated 151 1, where the Infant Chrift, 

 holding a pear, is fitting with his mother at the foot of a 

 tree. Another, known by the name of " The Virgin of 

 the Apple,'" which is dated 1514. All of them are of the 

 4to. dimenfions. An etching of the " Holy Family," in 

 folio, wherein the Virgin Mary is Handing and holding the 

 Infant Chri!l in her arms, and a girl is introduced at prayers, 

 tb.ted in the year 15 19. A fet of fifteen, inelnding the 

 fronti.rpiece, entitled " The fmall Paffion,"' very rare, and 

 dated fro.m 1507 to i;i2. " Chrill Crucified, with the 

 Holy "Women at tl;e Foot of tke Crofs," a fmall circle^ 



without tlie artill's mark, and faid to have been done for the 

 fword-beU of Charles V. " The Saviour prollrate in the 

 Garden of Olives," very rare, and dated 15 15. "A 

 Group of Angels bearing the InllrKinents of Crucifixion, 

 &c." engraved on tin, or iron tinned over, and dated 11J16. 

 " The grand Ecce Homo," in large 410. with a Latin 

 infciiption, and dated in 1512,3 very rare print, much fought 

 after by connoilYeurs. " Tiie Entombing of Chrift by the 

 Holy 'Women," in fmall folio, a print dated 1507, and in 

 which feveral cats are ftrangely introduced, but which 

 fome think is not by Albert Durer. " The Infant Pro- 

 digy," a kneeling figure, in folio : fome pretend that this 

 is a portrait of Diircr liimf-If. " St. Hubert at the Chafe," 

 a folio print, in which the faint is reprefented kneeling 

 before a crucifix, which appears upon the head of a Hag ! 

 the fcene is a wood, with a callle at fome dillance. 



Al'r-'ert Durer has been analogically compared with our 

 poet Spenfcr, and it has been remarked, that " if any one 

 of his performances were to be pointed out as more [jarti- 

 cularly rcfembling Spenfer, it Ihould be that of the Legen- 

 dary Tale of St. Hubert. Tiiey arc characterized by the 

 romantic heights of extravagance ; the fame abundance of 

 ideas ; the fame unremitted and fucceisful attention to 

 minute excellence ; the fame general air of incredibility 

 rendered credible, and, as we fhould fay now, if the works 

 of the poet and engraver were now produced fpr the firll 

 time ; the fame want of concentration, brevity, aftd gencnJ 

 effedl ; but a temporary adoption of the fympathies of 

 the fi.steenth century, as far as art is concerned, reconciles 

 us to thefe." 



Of the ful-ijeft cf St. Jerome, Durer has cn9;raven two 

 plates in fmall folio, on one of which, where the faint \i 

 litting ill a chamber, we have already commented ; in the 

 other he is kneeling before a crucifix, in a rocky defiu't, 

 and the engraving is far lefs elaborately finifhed that) tlio 

 former. 



" A naked winged Woman ftandiiig on a fmall Globe 

 fufpended in the Clouds, holding in one Hand an elabo- 

 rately wrought Cup, and in the other a Bridle," a folio print, 

 known among de;uers by the name of the Larger Fortune, 

 According to Vafari, it fhould be called Temperance, ac- 

 cording to others, Prudence : but, perhaps, Albert Durer 

 meant it for the Guardian Genius ot Nuremberg, of which 

 city a bird's eve view appears beneath. 



Anotiicr " Naked Woman on a Globe,'' in l2mo., calif d 

 the LelTer Fortune. She holds a long flick and a thiille. 

 Tlie figure of " Melancholy,'' on which we have already 

 commented. She is fitting, her head reiling on her hand^ 

 furrounded by various emblems, a folio plate, of exquifite 

 workmanlhip, dated 15 14. " The Dream of M. Wol- 

 gemut," w'here he is reprefented aileep near a frying pan : 

 the devil is behind with a large pair of bellows, and on tlie 

 fide Venus, with Cupid walking on flilts. " The g-.-eat 

 Satyr," who is attacked by a fawn w'nilil repofing with a 

 nymph, a fmall folio, the work of the graver, and performed 

 with admirable fkiU. " The Sorccreifes," four naked 

 women in a room : a globe, with the letters O. G. H. is 

 fufpended from above, and in an adjoining chamber appears 

 the devil furrounded by flames : it is dated 1497. Baldi* 

 nucci thinks it is the earliell of Dm-er's engravings. It is 

 copied from Wolgemut, and is a rare print. " A Cheva- 

 lier on Horfeback, and in cr.mplete Armour, purfued bv 

 Deatli on Horfeback, ( wlio is holding forth an Hour-Glafs,) 

 and another Speftre:" this is a verv hghly finiflied andexciui- 

 fite engraving, in fmall folio, of which good impresTions are 

 rare. It is by fome term.ed " Death's Horfe," and bv 

 others, w ith more propriety, " The Worldly Man :" it is 

 8 d.ited 



