Dürer and his Culture

Albrecht Dürer in his cultural context.

This collection sets Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) in the cultural context of the early sixteenth- century. Topics include views of nature and attitudes to collecting, patriotism, and morality, witchcraft, and the rituals of courtship, the power of visual images, and the role of censorship.This collection extends and deepens understanding of the political, social, and cultural contexts through which the meanings of Dürer's works can be perceived, and focuses on images which provide insights into his rich cultural milieu. Expanding views of nature and landscape, cultural strategies of collecting, the construction of national cultural identity, the humanist concern for a moral life, the transgressions of sexual order, and the gendered rituals of courtship are just some of the contemporary discourses and practices to which Dürer's works are linked. Also discussed is the manner in which images were viewed in the early-sixteenth century, and the powers and dangers with which they were associated, and the collection concludes with an appreciation of the changing historical role which Dürer himself has had within the European cultural tradition.