Christ Among the Doctors (detail)
by DÜRER, Albrecht, Oil on panel
The beauty of the twelve year-old Jesus contrasts with the ugliness of the doctors surrounding him. The depiction concentrates on the heads, books and hand gestures. It is likely that D�rer already knew Leonardo da Vinci’s caricatures at this time, and the latter’s Treatise on Painting dealt, amongst other things, with the contrast between absolute beauty and ugliness.