According to a German Art Gallery, a print of the artwork of the famous Renaissance artist Albrecht Durer has been donated to the museum. The print was donated by a kind man who found it lying in a flea market, and is thought to have been kept in a fairly good condition.
It is believed that the print of Mary Crowned by and Angels by Durer was bought by an unknown man for only a few euros in Sarrebourg located in the eastern France. After seeing the stamp of Stuttgart’s Staatsgaleri at the back of the print, the buyer decided to donate it only a few days after the purchase.
According to a museum spokesperson who spoke to the AFP news agency, the buyer visited the gallery along with his wife and presented the print with great honor.
The spokesperson, Anette Frankeberger, told the reporters that the famous copperplate print of Durer’s artwork had been missing since the Nazis invaded France during the Second World War.
However, the print appeared to have been kept under great care, wrapped up with a protective sheet for decades it seems, before it was bought by the man who donated it back to the gallery.
Speaking about museum’s policy regarding the display of the print, Frankerberger said that the museum had not reached a decision about the nature of its display, however, once decided the environment it will put in will surely match its caliber.
Born in Nuremberg in 1471, Albrecht Durer belonged to a family from Hungary; his family had to Germanize the family name from Thurer to Durer when they arrived in Nuremberg in the mid-15th century. Durer’s father, also known as Albrecht, had chosen the profession of Goldsmith and served Hieronymus Hefler as his assistant; Albrecht married Hefler’s daughter Barbra. Albrecht Durer had eighteen siblings, his brother Hans Durer also made his name in the field of Art.
Albrecht Durer was one of the very few intellectuals and bright minds who fully witnessed the startling impact of some of the most momentous affairs of The Renaissance.
The period saw great Protestant Reformation sweeping through European continent, partly triggered by the period of great religious and cultural transformation that enabled the Renaissance humanist movement.
Durer essentially tried his utmost to conceptualize Martin Luther’s movement considering, it a part of a larger system of theological and religious reformation, anchored in the early humanist movement.
The reason Durer attained the status he did is because he was the first northern artist whose work reflected a more modern, human perspective – as opposed to the extremely religious style that was normal at the time.
Durer took the responsibility to not only import the Renaissance to the north, but he also tried to visualize some of the most pivotal changes in European and Christian culture at his time.