''The Four Apostles'' is a
panel painting
A panel painting is a painting made on a flat panel of wood, either a single piece or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century, panel painting was the normal method, when not paint ...
by the German
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
master
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...
. It was finished in 1526, and is the last of his large works. It depicts the four apostles larger-than-life-size. The Bavarian
Elector Maximilian I obtained ''The Four Apostles'' in the year 1627 due to pressure on the Nuremberg city fathers. Since then, the painting has been in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
, in the
Alte Pinakothek
The Alte Pinakothek (, ''Old Pinakothek'') is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses a significant collection of Old Master paintings. The name Alte (Old) Pi ...
, and, despite all the efforts of Nuremberg since 1806, it has not been returned.
Description
When Dürer moved back to
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
he produced many famous paintings there, including several self-portraits. He gave ''The Four Apostles'' to the town council. Saints
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
and
Peter appear in the left panel; the figures in the right panel are Saints
Mark
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Finn ...
and
Paul
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
* Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
. Mark and Paul both hold Bibles, and John and Peter are shown reading from the opening page of John's own Gospel. At the bottom of each panel, quotations from the Bible are inscribed.
[
]
The apostles are recognizable by their symbols:
*St. John the Evangelist: open book
*St. Peter: keys
*St. Mark: scroll
*St. Paul: sword and closed book
They are also associated with the
four temperaments
The four temperament theory is a proto-psychological theory which suggests that there are four fundamental personality types: sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic. Most formulations include the possibility of mixtures among the types w ...
:
*St. John: sanguine
*St. Peter: phlegmatic
*St. Mark: choleric
*St. Paul: melancholy
Historical context
''The Four Apostles'' was created during the Reformation, begun in 1517 and having the largest initial impact on Germany. Some Protestants believed that icons were contradictory to the Word of God, which was held in the utmost supremacy over, thus some Protestant churches would not patron any sacred art. Therefore, some Protestant artists, like Dürer became, had to commission their own works. Many aspects of the image depicted prove significant in light of the Reformation itself.
[ This painting has had many speculations as to the intentions, one being that it was Dürer's way of creating a sort of legacy piece by creating what he considered to be a worthy piece.]
See also
*'' Portrait of Jakob Muffel'' - A Dürer painting of the same year
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Four Apostles, The
1526 paintings
Paintings by Albrecht Dürer
Collection of the Alte Pinakothek
Diptychs
Paintings depicting Mark the Evangelist
Paintings depicting John the Apostle
Paintings depicting Saint Peter
Paintings depicting Paul the Apostle
Lutheran art
Books in art