Saint Christopher Facing Right 1521
Albrecht Durer (1471 – Nuremberg – 1528)
Saint Christopher facing right 1521
engraving; 119 x 74 mm (4 11/16 x 2 15/16 inches)
Bartsch 52; Meder 52 a (of d); Schoch/Mende/Scherbaum 94
provenance
Wilhelm August Ackermann, Lübeck and Dresden (Lugt 791);
his sale, Rudolph Weigel, Leipzig, March 29ff., 1853, lot 138, described as
Kostbarster Druck und mit 11 Lin. breitem Rande.; sold for 7 Thaler 15 to
Gabriel von Cronstern III, Nehmten (cf. Stogdon, p. 357);
their sale (“a German Family of Title”, part 2), Christie’s, London, June 18, 1992, lot 56
Robert M. Light & Co., Inc., Santa Barbara
Carolyn and George Rowland, Boston
A superb impression in impeccable condition, with generous margins all round.
The silvery tones of this impression are characteristic of Dürer’s prints of the 1520s. In the engravings as well as the woodcuts (such as The Last Supper, 1523) made during this late part of his career, the artist began to replace the often dramatic black-and-white contrasts of his earlier prints with a wide range of subtle gradations of gray.
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