I created a large drawing which alludes to historical aspects and attempts to impose new narratives in response to

According to Elizabeth Lunday the "skeletal figure of death stands ghostly pale against the darkness of a shadowy crag, while the devil, a multihorned goatlike creature, skulks amongst straggly tree roots.

Outbreaks of disease urged him to write, "Anyone who is among us today, may be buried tomorrow," and, “Always seek grace, as if you might die any moment.” Death was a very real and constant threat for the artist, whose devotion to his faith also meant he greatly feared damnation. Knight, Death and the Devil is dated and signed by the artist; the bottom left of the tablet is scribed “S. This replication sparked a revolution that made owning art accessible for the masses. The print called Knight, Death and the Devil by art historians was named by Dürer himself as “Der Reuter”-the Rider and created and dated in 1513. It was widely copied and had a large influence on later German writers. But do you know the secrets hidden in its scratches? [9] The engraving draws from Psalm 23; "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil".

Many of the forms blend into each other. [9] The engraving draws from Psalm 23; “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil”. Likewise, our knight is accompanied by the Devil in grotesque bestial form. All agree that the copper engraving is technically stunning, but the interpretation of the Rider has been and continues to be greatly debated. Luther’s Invocavit Sermons, Part 3 – Faith and Love, Must and Free, Smalcald Articles Study: The First and Chief Article. Each was created from copper printing plates between 1513 and 1514. on From the Greek God Apollo to the Festival of Masonic Arts, on THE BUILDERS by Joseph Fort Newton – part 5, on SOME RUMINATIONS by Honorable Brother Leon Zeldis, From the Greek God Apollo to the Festival of Masonic Arts, THE BUILDERS by Joseph Fort Newton – part 5, SOME RUMINATIONS by Honorable Brother Leon Zeldis. Although the meaning of this print has not been satisfactorily explained, it is clear that the message is an ominous one. The image is infused with complex iconography and symbolism, the precise meaning of which has been argued over for centuries. Although the meaning of this print has not been satisfactorily explained, it is clear that the message is an ominous one. Actually, knights were commonly depicted in contemporary art with a fox tail tied to the tip of their lance. The rebelling angel boasts a boar’s snout and a bull’s horn while clutching a halberd. Living oak leaves, icon for the resurrected Christ, adorn the head and tail of the resolutely striding horse. There's no evidence to suggest Dürer saw Saint Jerome in His Study, Melancholia I, and Knight, Death, and the Devil as companion pieces, but modern art experts group the works because of their technical similarities. "[23] In 1933, the mayor of Nuremberg presented Hitler with an original print of Knight, Death and the Devil,[24] and described Hitler as the "knight without fear or blame, who as the Führer of the new German Reich, once again carried and multiplied the fame of the old imperial city of Nuremberg to the whole world. and Ed. At a 1927 Nazi rally the philosopher, Nazi theorist and ideologue, and later convicted war criminal Alfred Rosenberg compared the assembled stormtroopers to the warrior in Knight, Death and the Devil, exclaiming that "in everything that you do, remember that for the National Socialists only one thing counts: to cry out to the world: And even if the world is full of devils, we must win anyway! Karling points to the lack of Christian or religious symbolism in the work and to the fox’s tail wrapped on top the knight’s lance – in Greek legend[16] the fox’s tail was a symbol of greed, cunning and treachery, as well as lust and whoring. Of his 17 siblings, only two lived to adulthood. After the First World War, writers Thomas Mann and Ernst Bertram described the work as close to what Nietzsche could teach about the fate of Germany; the embodiment of the Renaissance and the teachings of Martin Luther, and as described by Gary Shapiro, they believed it was “invoked in order to intensify the sense of resolute determination in the absence of all hope.”, Dürer was idealised from the 1920s by ideologues within the Nazis party as “the most German of German artists”. "[20] As such, he gave a copy to his sister on the eve of her emigration to Paraguay. Some historians argue the Dutch Catholic priest's 1501 book Handbook of a Christian Soldier may have inspired Knight, Death, and the Devil's horseman. But the work is loaded with other symbols.

One particular passage seems to suit the knight's firm-chinned stare: "In order that you may not be deterred from the path of virtue because it seems rough and dreary … and because you must constantly fight three unfair enemies—the flesh, the devil, and the world—this third rule shall be proposed to you: all of those spooks and phantoms which come upon you as if you were in the very gorges of Hades must be deemed for naught after the example of Virgil's Aeneas … Look not behind thee.". Downloadable materials to help promote your congregation’s observation of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Moritz Thausing suggested that Dürer created Knight, Death and the Devil as part of a four-work cycle, designed to illustrate the four temperaments.

The figures in the foreground are enclosed by the rocky landscape and the brittle, dead trees. Rather than crudely cutting a signature into the piece (as some impetuous artists might do), the German printmaker incorporated his initials and the date onto a plaque in the picture's lower left side. The ‘christian knight’, the tireless warrior who cannot be deterred from his path, is probably depicted here. All rights reserved. Fully arrayed and protected with the armor of God, the Rider looks neither left nor right nor behind, but only ahead as he confidently and steadfastly journeys onward to the Holy City. Quirk Books, 2014.