Philip Melanchthon
Albrecht Dürer
Philip Melanchthon
engraving
1526
An original Albrecht Dürer engraving.
1526
Original engraving printed in black ink on laid paper.
Dated and signed with the artist’s monogram in the plate lower center.
A late lifetime or early posthumous Meder “c” (of “f”) impression, showing the vertical scratch on the forehead, but prior to the appearance of the scratch to the right of the date, printed circa 1528.
Catalog: Bartsch 105; Meder 104.c; Hollstein 104; Dodgson 102, Strauss 104
Image Size: 6 7/8 x 5 1/16 inches
Sheet Size: 7 1/8 x 5 5/16 inches
Entry from Dürer and his Legacy:
‘Philipp Melanchthon (1497 – 1560) was a renowned supporter of Martin Luther and famous teacher; he was appointed professor of Greek at the university of Wittenberg in 1518 at the age of twenty-one. He was called upon by the city council of Nuremberg to re-organise the school curriculum when the decision was taken by the council in 1525 to institute the main principals of Luther’s reforms. Melanchthon was in Nuremberg for this purpose in 1525-6 when Dürer engraved his portrait, which he inscribed: ‘Dürer was able to depict Philipp’s features as if living, but the skilled hand could not portray his soul.’
Melanchthon thought highly of Dürer and considered that painting was the least of his accomplishments; he gave particular praise to his debating skills in disputes with Pirckheimer from which Dürer would emerge as the more eloquent figure (see Conway, p.133). It is possible that he possessed some of Dürer’s prints and a letter of 15 March 1533 from Melanchthon to Joachim Camerarius indicates that he owned a German copy of Dürer’s book on proportion (cat.no 172; see Rupprich I, p.288). ‘
