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

Portrait of Barbara Dürer

1490
Oil on pine panel, 47 x 38 cm
Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg

Shortly before his departure as a journeyman, Dürer painted the double portrait of his parents, his first painted portraits. The portrait of his mother acted as the counterpart to the portrait of his father, and is related to the latter in terms of line of sight and body posture. The portraits are closely matched to each other in terms of composition. The mother, with a white bonnet, appears as a married woman in a dark red garment. While the latter is recorded in a summary fashion, her physiognomy is depicted meticulously. His mother is holding a rosary in her hand as an expression of her piety, and this gesture is another way in which she is related to the depiction of his father.




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