ALTDORFER, Albrecht

One of Altdorfer’s most ambitious commissions involved the execution of panels for the altarpiece in the Collegiate Church of Saint Florian near Linz, which was installed in 1518. Originally the ornate shrine must have resembled the great altarpiece of Saint Wolfgang by Michael Pacher, with an elaborate framework intricately carved about painted panels, and inner sculptures, but only the paintings remain intact. Now dismantled, most parts are at either Sankt Florian or Vienna.

When the wings are opened, eight episodes from the Passion of Christ appear in two registers; closed, four scenes in the life of Saint Sebastian are presented. The predella displays four more painted panels, including the Entombment and Resurrection, Saints Margaret and Barbara, and the donor, Provost Peter Maurer. Altdorfer’s drama of the Passion is intensified in emotion and superbly composed with four scenes that takes place in the darkness and four opposing scenes on the right, which occur in daylight.

The first of the series, Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, is one of the finest examples of the artist’s expression in themes of betrayal and violence. The threatening darkness of the night sky, striated by intense layers of red, does not conceal the nature of the sinister landscape of Gethsemane. In the foreground an eerie grotto of stalactites forms the uneasy stage for Christ and his three apostles, Peter, James, and John.

Apart from D�rer, Cranach and Gr�newald, Altdorfer was the most significant German artist of the sixteenth century: a gifted painter, a graphic artist and the founder of the Danube School. He worked in Regensburg on the Danube, painting altarpieces and Biblical and historical scenes, and he was also the first landscape painter in the modern sense.

The Crucifixion is a composition with numerous figures depicted against a golden background. This works illustrates very fully his fresh manner of representation and narration. Altdorfer painted several Crucifixions, but it is possible, on stylistic grounds, to date this version to around 1520. The symmetrical arrangement, with the cross in the centre of the composition, the crowd surging round it and the golden background (an unusual feature with Altdorfer) give the work a peculiarly archaic character. As in some of his engravings, the painter borrowed several of the figures and motifs from Mantegna.

The painting was commissioned by Peter Maurer, Provost of Sankt Florian for his private chapel. It is signed with the artist’s monogram at bottom right.

Keeling in prayer beneath the cross are the tiny figures of the unknown couple who donated this crucifixion panel, which would have hung above the family tomb in a Regensburg church or cloister. At the foot of the cross, where in other such works one finds the skull of Adam, said to have been buried at Golgotha and whose sins Christ atones for by his death, is their coat of arms, with a hexagram. On either side of Christ, who is represented not in an idealised manner but with the signs of his injuries, the landscape stretches away into the far distance.

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The picture shows a detail of the landscape behind the cross. Altdorfer is considered to be one of the founders of the German landscape painting that emerges in the early 16th century, the great achievement of which is the representation of nature in its concrete reality, essential for the later development of art.

A turbulent, darkening sky, signifying the eclipse at Christ’s death, is seen behind Altdorfer’s obliquely placed Crucifixion panel. Mary Magdalen is seen from the back in a melancholic pose, as the other Marys leave with St John the Evangelist and a bearded elder just before the deposition takes place.

With a sentimental note and an intuitive science of light and colouring, the masters of the Danube school, Altdorfer and Huber, gave free rein to their lyricism in scintillating mythologies and religious scenes, in which the landscape acquires an importance never before equalled, and vibrates with a completely personal communion with nature.

Altdorfer became a citizen of Regensburg in 1505, and later the Surveyor of the city’s buildings. The steeply wooded stretch of the Danube below the city, with the castle of Worth, appears in several Altdorfer paintings.

The small diptych represents the Stigmatisation of St Francis (left panel) and the Penitence of St Jerome (right panel). In the diptych the two saints are seen close-up, in contrast with the infinite space of their landscape settings.

Altdorfer belongs to a small group of German artists for whom landscape assumed great importance, both for helping to set the emotional tone of a narrative scene, and for its own sake.

Landscape was an interest of German artists of the beginning of 16th century. Lucas Cranach and Albrecht Altdorfer had discovered the beauty of the Alpine districts around the Danube and developed a kind of romantic landscape painting and etching, often enlivened by dramatic effects of light. An interest in dramatic nocturnal scenes is also apparent in the works of D�rer’s follower, Hans Baldung Grien.

This painting represents one of the first landscapes in the history of European painting.

A family of satyrs has settled on a tree-covered slope at the foot of a cliff. The man with horns and goat’s feet is shown holding a club, while a blonde woman nestles against him and supports the child standing on her thigh. The couple seem to be oblivious of a scene taking place in a nearby meadow, where a woman in a red dress is attempting to flee from a naked man who is carrying a stick in one hand and holding her fast with the other.

The uninhibited way of life of human or semi-human beings in the freedom of natural surroundings was a frequently occurring theme in literary and pictorial works of the Renaissance, following the precedent of antiquity. German artists became familiar with subjects of this kind mainly through copper-engravings by Andrea Mantegna and other northern Italian artists. By no means all these themes were derived straight from antiquity; frequently they were mythological fantasies inspired by Roman relief sculpture.

The whole atmosphere of Altdorfer’s idyllic scene suggests that it was inspired not so much by engravings as by the Arcadian landscapes of Venetian painters of the school of Giorgione; yet, although the motif of the naked woman seen from behind seems to confirm this, Altdorfer’s approach to his art is fundamentally different. The satisfaction of depicting the nude, for which scenes from antiquity provided the most obvious pretext, is entirely subordinate in Altdorfer’s paintings to his rendering of nature. The figures, which are fairly summarily treated, remain small and relatively inconspicuous against the dense wooded background. Whether the painter actually visited Venice is not certain but it does seem highly likely. About 1500 he was working in the Salzburg region at the Mondsee monastery, before he acquired burgher’s rights in Regensburg in 1505. The present work, produced two years later, is one of Altdorfer’s earliest signed and dated paintings. Like Cranach’s Rest on the Flight, painted in 1504, it points the way to a new awareness of landscape in the Renaissance period, originally stemming from the so-called Danube school.

Around the middle of the last century this portrait was in the Kraenner Collection in Regensburg; it later passed into the collection of Barthel Suermondt, which was purchased for the Berlin Gallery in 1874.

Painters of the Danube school made landscapes a central feature of their works. Landscape became valued for its own sake. Figures and narrative content are often absent. Most of Altdorfer’s landscapes are fantasies rather than records of actual towns or places. In this etching he presented a plausible view of a village by a small river with a well-fortified castle above. Conjuring up memories of the German or Alpine countryside, it is a setting for the imagination’s delectation.

Albrecht Altdorfer was one of the great German masters of the 16th century. Although remaining within the orbit of D�rer’s influence, Altdorfer began a trend in painting which focused on the representation of nature, which he interpreted - in an almost Romantic style - as something living and moving. This development became known as the Danube school and Altdorfer was its principal representative.

This fragment of a fresco was executed for the decoration of Kaiserbad in Regensburg. (Other fragments are in the Städtishes Museum, Regensburg). The importance is given to these fragments by the fact that no wall other wall paintings survived from the masters of the Danube school (except a damaged fresco by Wolf Huber in Neuburg am Inn.

The painting was executed after an engraving of D�rer.

Staged as a nocturne, this Nativity takes place in a stable so ruinous that an additional miracle may be found in its not having collapsed upon the Holy Family sheltering within. The stable clearly enjoyed a loftier function before housing ox, ass, and homeless family, probably first built in Bethlehem as part of the palace of David, ancestor of the Virgin.

Very few portraits by Altdorfer are known. In this painting the image of the woman is a strange one, despite the apparent normality of the sitter, who has the air of a countrywoman. The cold light which illuminates her and the contrast with the background, with its sketchy and barely decipherable shadows, contribute to this mood.

The Virgin is shown resting in a throne-like chair by a richly ornate Renaissance fountain, while Joseph proffers a basket of cherries. Several angels are playing in and around the basin of the fountain, and the child Jesus tries to reach into the water. The fountain-pillar is lavishly decorated with sculpture. The significance of the group of figures at the top - a bearded man with a boy shooting an arrow - is not clear, but appears to relate to ancient mythology. Beyond the fountain the wooded shores of a lake stretch far into the distance. The rocks are crowded with gateways, fortified roads and towers, houses with pointed gables, ruins and decaying roofs - all so intricately interwoven with trees and foliage that it is difficult to detect the relationship of any one building to the other.

The element of fantasy, which so dominates the landscape, is also apparent in the fountain, in which the figures seem to be drawn both from reality and from the artist’s imagination. There is no prototype or parallel in Altdorfer’s time for the bizarre appearance of the fountain. The painter’s artistic invention was sin this case at least a generation ahead of his time.

At the foot of the fountain is a stone tablet bearing the Latin inscription: ‘Albertus Aldorfer pictor Ratisponensis in salutem animae hoc tibi munus diva maria sacravit corde fideli 1510 AA’ (‘Albrecht Altdorfer, painter from Regensburg, for the salvation of his soul dedicated this gift to thee, divine Mary, with a faithful heart’);.this indicates a very personal confession on the part of the painter, his appeal to the Virgin Mary. The dedication must also be taken as an explanation of the central feature of the picture, the fountain, which - though symbolic of a heathen place - is nonetheless the water of life for the Holy Family. The motif recalls the legend, according to which a spring appeared from the earth when the Holy Family in its flight sought a place to rest. A few years earlier Cranach had treated the same theme;this fact establishes a singular bond between the two paintings.

It is assumed that the landscape reproduces impressions from the country near Regensburg, and in particular the hamlets of Scheuchenberg, Lerchenhaube and W�rth, which are also recognizable in Altdorfer’s Crucifixion in the gallery at Cassel. The painter settled in Regensburg in 1505 and twenty years later was appointed the city’s master-builder. Most of his pictures point to a predilection for architecture and architectural d�cor. An example of this is the highly imaginitive construction of the fountain and - on another panel in Berlin painted somewhat later - the ruin in the darkness which serves as the setting for the birth of Christ.

Several angels are playing in and around the basin of the fountain, and the child Jesus tries to reach into the water.

Altdorfer was one of Germany’s most innovative artists in an era spanning late medieval piety, the Renaissance and the Reformation, and his work reveals many facets of a changing society. It is especially noteworthy for an expressive use of nature and for introducing landscape as a theme of its own in art. In this respect Altdorfer is the central figure of the Danube school.

The forest was the outdoor setting most favoured by Altdorfer, and it sets the tone of many subjects both secular and religious.

The two panels in the Uffizi (The Departure of St Florian and The Martyrdom of St Florian) make up a series (incomplete) of seven representing the story of St Florian. The other panels are scattered in various museums: 3 in Nuremberg, 1 in Prague, and 1 in Bern. They are not belong to the St Florian Altarpiece executed by Altdorfer for the abbey church in Sankt Florian near Linz, Austria. It is not known whether this altarpiece was also painted for the same church.

Albrecht Altdorfer was a painter who tended to specialize in landscape and architecture to such an extent that these elements, from being simple background decorations, often became the central theme of his paintings. The dramatic and enchanted images that were the hallmark of his style caused him to be considered one of the precursors of Romanticism.

Altdorfer’s fantastic, visionary art represented the other side of sixteenth century culture. In his paintings he borrows the extremely vivid colours from dreams, the narration becomes impassioned, and the space-time elements narrow and expand irrationally.

Particularly noteworthy is the crystalline clearness of the colours, especially the whites, which contribute to giving the story and the whole scene a somewhat unreal atmosphere.

Like in his paintings, the unity of figure and landscape can also be seen in Altdorfer’s woodcuts. Even though the figure of St George thrusts a long lance into the dragon’s mouth across the main foreground, he still does not stand out from the mountainous setting. The plumes of his helmet meld into the foliage.

Altdorfer placed biblical and historical scenes into German landscapes, and the figures were represented in contemporary dresses. As an examp�e, this well-known biblical scene takes place in the garden of a Renaissance palace.

One of the main concerns of the German artist Albrecht Altdorfer was to paint atmospheric landscapes. In the Arrest scene of the St Florian Altarpiece, which today survives only in fragments, the light from the torches throws up a night scene in a forest covered by a somberly glowing night sky. This kind of dramatic interpretation of the subject matter was just the sort of model Holbein needed for his Passion altarpiece.

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This is the most famous painting of Altdorfer. Its subject is the victory of the young Alexander the Great in 333 B.C. over the Persian army of King Darius in the battle of Issos. The battle in fact took place in Turkey, however, on this painting it is shown in the rocky environment of the Alps with German cities in the background.

The viewer, endowed with telescopic vision, witnesses the battle and the cosmic landscape. The ebb and flow of battle makes it difficult initially to distinguish the two sides. Altdorfer dressed the Macedonians like German knights and landsknechts (mercenary foot-soldiers), while the Persian warriors sport turbans and exotic attires. Hundreds of riders and foot-soldiers skirmish within sight of their battle standards. Darius’ chariot, with mounted steel blades, cuts a path through the throng. Alexander, riding on Bucephalus, and some of his knights are in close pursuit. Darius escaped but at great cost: according to the tablet above, 100.000 Persian soldiers and 10.000 riders died. Although the actual toll was lower, Darius’ army was decimated and his family was captured.

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The Beautiful (or Fair) Virgin of Regensburg was a thirteenth century Byzantine icon of the Virgin and Child, believed to have been painted by St Luke. Many miracles (74 were documented in 1519 and 731 in 1522) were credited to this icon and hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from Bavaria, Franconia and Bohemia came to Regensburg.

Albrecht Altdorfer, then member of the city council, designed tokens sold to the pilgrims and at least four different prints of the Beautiful Virgin. The finest, most expensive of these was a chiaroscuro woodcut, which in is first edition was printed with tone blocks in blue, red, green, brown, and yellow-brown. The icon is set within an elaborate Renaissance-style frame. The accompanying prayer reads, ‘You are of perfect beauty my love and there is no blemish in you. Hail Mary.’ Regensburg coat-of-arms and Altdorfer’s monogram appear to either side.

No architectural work by Altdorfer is known, but his interest in architecture and his skill in handling intricate problems of perspective are demonstrated by his Birth of the Virgin.

Originally this panel was on the predella of the winged altarpiece of St Florian.

The great Augustinian abbey of St. Florian provided the wealthy and culturally sophisticated milieu for the creation of Altdorfer’s high altar, his masterpiece. Now dismantled, most parts are at either Sankt Florian or Vienna.

The two panels in the Uffizi (The Departure of St Florian and The Martyrdom of St Florian) make up a series (incomplete) seven representing the story of St Florian. The other panels are scattered in various museums: 3 in Nuremberg, 1 in Prague, and 1 in Bern. They are not belong to the St Florian Altarpiece executed by Altdorfer for the abbey church in Sankt Florian near Linz, Austria. It is not known whether this altarpiece was also painted for the same church.

Florian was a Roman soldier of the tow Ems in what is now Upper Austria who was converted to Christianity and martyred in 304 by being thrown into the river Ems with a millstone tied around his neck. Passers-be recovered his body which was watched over by an eagle until taken away for burial. He was said to have miraculously put out the flames of a burning building, or a whole city, with a single bucket of water. He is thus invoked against fire. He is a popular saint in Austria and Bavaria.

This is a panel from a from a large winged altarpiece, the Florian Altarpiece painted for abbey Augustiner-Chorherrenstift at Sankt Florian near Linz, Austria. The altarpiece survived only in fragments.

The altarpiece when open represented scenes from the Passion, while showed four scenes of the Legend of St Sebastian when closed. This panel constituted a part of the predella.

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