DÜRER, Albrecht
(b. 1471, Nürnberg, d. 1528, Nürnberg)

Christ Among the Doctors (detail)

1506
Oil on panel
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

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 Dürer 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.