Nuremberg, 1471 -1528 · Face, status and consciousness of the artist

Self-portraits, humanists, merchants, women and emperor show how Dürer transformed Nordic precision into modern affirmation of the individual.

Albrecht Dürer takes the portrait of the German Renaissance to an unprecedented degree of precision and consciousness. Son of a goldsmith from Nuremberg, trained by Michael Wolgemut then enriched by two trips to Venice, he combines Nordic observation, Italian monumentality and humanist reflection on the status of the artist. His self-portraits mark his career. In 1493, the thistle accompanied an image still linked to the engagement and the emblem; in 1498, at twenty-six years old, the thistle accompanied an image still linked to the engagement and the emblem; in 1498, at twenty-six years old, the thistle accompanied an image still linked to the engagement and the emblem; in 1498, at twenty-six years old, the gloves, the elegant costume and the window presented him as a gentiluomo rather than an artisan; in 1498, at twenty-six years old, the gloves, the elegant costume and the window presented him as a gentiluomo rather than an artisan; in 1498, at twenty-six years old, the thistle accompanied an image still linked to the engagement and the emblem; in 1498, at twenty-six years old, the gloves, the elegant costume and the window presented him as a gentiluomo rather than an artisan; in Bernhart von Reesen, Hieronymus Holzschuher and Willibald Pirckheimer describe the civic, commercial and intellectual network of Northern Europe. Dürer individualizes skin, hair, fabrics and eyes without reducing his models to an inventory. The portrait of Maximilian I finally adds the imperial function. This collection makes it possible to follow the transition from the private face to social representation and self-portrait-manifesto. The selection "Portraits of Albrecht Dürer" notably compares Self-portrait at 26 and Portrait of a Woman, known as Caritas Pirckheimer (1467-1532). His reading favors the story.

Dürer paints each face as a presence and each self-portrait as a thesis: the artist observes the world but also decides his own place.