A focus on a limited sample of Albrecht Dürer prints at the Mdina Cathedral Museum collection

Abstract

This thesis will analyse five prints by Albrecht Dürer in the Mdina Cathedral Museum Collection, two of which are secular - The Ill-Assorted Couple and Lady on Horseback and a Lansquenet - and three religious - The Virgin and Child with the Monkey, St. George on Horseback and Christ in Limbo and The Harrowing of Hell. The focus will be on three themes in particular: (a) backgrounds and landscapes, (b) the portrayal of animals and fantastical elements and (c) the portrayal of male and female costumes. Therefore the aim of this thesis is to understand the selected works in an engaging manner through a survey of these thematic aspects. From the very beginning, the main areas of interest were the landscape setting and botanical detail, the context and portrayal of animals and fantastical elements, and the use of German fashion within Dürer’s prints. Thus, the prints were chosen due to their correlation with the purpose of this study. Apart from their subject, the selection also fell on the mentioned prints since they are less popular works within Dürer’s oeuvre. Although information on Dürer and his oeuvre has been widely researched and published, in some instances there seems to be a dearth of information, such as on the chosen prints for this study. However, this may only be the case for research published in English: given the inability to comprehend German, there might be published literature which unfortunately could not be benefitted from during this study. Since Dürer’s works have received a lot of scholarly attention, there are several instances where this thesis relies on several secondary sources. However, the aim is to take a fresh look at the five selected prints not just through these secondary sources, but also through recent original research carried out for the purpose of this study through which, where possible, a worthy contribution has been made. Unfortunately, due to their delicacy, it was not possible to remove the five prints from their frames and inspect the recto.