Self-Portrait

Albrecht Dürer

Self-portrait

1500

oil on panel

Length: 49 cm. Height: 67 cm.

Alte Pinakotheck, Munich, Germany

One piece of artwork that gained a sort of puzzled attention when it was created has continued to perplex art historians today. The last of Albrecht Durer’s three self-portraits, Self-Portrait, is one of his most well known pieces. A big part of this acknowledgement comes from Durer’s atypical portrayal of himself. Rather than use the profile or three-quarters view, Durer painted himself in a full-frontal pose. It has a clear confrontational intent, featuring eye contact with the viewer. However, the most controversial characteristics of this portrait revolve around whether his depiction of himself as innocent in an attempt to be an imitation of Christ or whether he was attempting to actually portray himself as God.

The frontal pose mentioned earlier was something that was typically used to portray Christ, not other figures. Another sign is the way his hands are positioned over the middle of his chest. This could be in correlation with the way Jesus would offer his blessing. Finally, the inscription that translates “I, Albrecht Durer of Nuremberg portrayed myself in everlasting colours ages twenty-eight years” clearly alludes to some sort of higher status. While many of the signs point towards Durer portraying himself as Christ or God, critics still say Self-Portrait is a statement less about Durer’s person than about his art. The signature can be taken to mean that the image is both by and of Durer and nothing more.