Most of Diirer's works are signed with his quaint monogram and a re dated.
His coloring va- ries much in ex cellence, being D sometimes bright and harmonious, at others hard and dry. He inherited the angularity of form of the German school, as may he especially seen in his draperies: but this was much softened by Ital ian influence. lie paid muell attention to detail, and his German exactness often detracts from the effect of the 'a hole. Ilis composition is sometimes awkward and crowded. But in his best work he avoided those errors. and his drawing was always excellent. The finest collection of his drawings is in the Albcrtina, Vienna, which has above a hundred. ...Next to this is the British Museum, and after that Berlin. His drawings were all finished with care and exactness, and they were executed on various materials, with the pen. pencil, and brush. Sometimes they were outlined in watercolors. sometimes studies on paper and parchment in body-color. In the Augsburg Gal lery there is a life-size Madonna in body-colors; other famous examples are the (Ham burg), the "Jay's Wing" ( Berlin), and the "Hare" (Albertina I. Ile also painted a few watercolor iandscapes, whieh show fine observa tion and technic-al ability; a noted example is the "dill" (Berlin). Among his tinted draw ings a re "Women Bathing," ( llremen ) and "Venus with Cupid Stung by Bees" iBritish Museum). His famous Passion" ( Al bertina ), a series of pen and brush drawings on green paper. ranks with his best engravings. Among his best pen and ink drawings are the "Adoration of the Kings" (Albertina), and espe cially the "Prayer- took of the Emperor Maxi milian" (Munich Library), in which he decorat ed the borders of forty-five pages with drawings in red. green, and violet ink.
Diirer was best known to contemporaries as an engraver, and in this art he ranks even higher than as a painter. He was easily the most prominent engraver of his day. and one' of the very greatest of all times. in this art his imag ination, his facility and dramatic action have full play. Before his day wood-cuts were mere outlines, and copper plates consisted of dark fig ures on light backgrounds. Diirer introduced light and shade into engraving, giving it tone and thus making it pictorial. He designed over a hundred wood-cuts, four great series, besides many single plates. The "Apocalypse" series (16 pages. published 1495) shows his mastery of the art. and an extraordinary fantasy in making real the tangible visions of Saint John. The fourth plate, representing the "Four Ridert of the Apocalypse," is especially good. His "Large Passion." a series of twelve plates, was produced for the most part in 1500, though published in 1511. His "Life of the Virgin." a charming series of sixteen plates. was executed chiefly in 1501-05 and published in 1511. The
"Little Passion" is a series of thirty-seven plates, executed in his best period (1509-10). We can but wonder at the invention displayed in the different versions of the same event, as compared with the "Large Passion." The "Triumphal Areh of Maximilian," executed after 1512, was a series of ninety plates so engraved as to form a triumphal arch ten feet high. The subjects Of the IlilTerent plates were laudatory of the Em peror, and of these twenty-four were by Darer. including the chief subject, the "'Triumphal Car," eontaining the Emperor and l,is family.
In copper engraving, Diirer is equally re nowned. His first works are executed in the manner of Sehonganer and Mantegna—dark fig on a light background. Another interest ing group of his copper plates is identical, ex cept that the figures are reversed and better executed, wilt] those of another engraver, whose signature was `W,' probably Wohlgemuth. It is uncertain whether the original design was by Diircr or not. Among the best engravings of this group are the "Knight and Lady," the "Madonna with the .Monkey," the "Dream," the "Four \\ itches." Ile soon progressed to a better nnunier. using a dark background. Among the prints of this description are the "Adam and Eve" (1504) ; "Christmas:" "Family of Satyrs" (1505) ; and the "Little Passion" 116 plates, 1512-13). Afterwards he attempted etch in•s. but not with equal success. He lir4-,ently combined both methods. first etching the plates and then going over them with the graver. These are the very best copper engravings he ever did, and in their beautiful silver tones they display the perfection of pictorial eharm in an engraving. Among the best are the "Virgin Crowned by Angels." the "Virgin with the Child," and the well-known "Saint Jerome in his study." the weird "Death and the Knight" 11513o. and the strange "Melancholia" (1514). Ile also engraved the portraits of celebrated eontemporaries• such as the larger and smaller portraits of Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg. Frederick the Wise. Pirkheimer. :Nlelanehthon. and Erasmus. Many of his engravings abound in a delightful humor, like the "Three Peasants," "Love Offers." and others mentioned above. which are regarded by some as the foundation of genre in modern art.
Diirer also occupied himself with sculpture and architecture, but none of the sculptures bear ing his monogram are unquestionably genuine. The last years of his life were spent largely in literary activity. His and advanced ideas on fortifications are given in a work on The Fortification of City. Castle. and ilarket Town (Nuremberg. 1527: new ed., Berlin. IS231. Ilis remaining works were on subjects interesting to the painter: Instruction in Ileasuring with the Compass (1525) ; and Four Books of Human Proportion (152S)