Woodcut Illustrations from The Ship of Fools
Title: Leaf from Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant, Untitled woodcut by Dürer.
Creator: Valdosta State University
Date: 1520
Description: Leaf out of Ship of Fools by Brant. B/W Woodcut illustration by Albrecht Dürer. Reference Volume 2 Albrecht Dürer: Das gesame graphische Werk Druckgraphik [Complete Graphic Works]. Page 1415. 4 5/8" x 3 3/8"
Source: Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections. Tatler-Burgess Collection.
Subject: Wood-engraving; Antiques; Prints;
Identifier:
Format: image/jpeg
Title: Leaf from Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant, Untitled woodcut by Dürer.
Creator: Valdosta State University
Date: 1520
Description: Leaf out of Ship of Fools by Brant. B/W Woodcut illustration by Albrecht Dürer. Reference Volume 2 Albrecht Dürer: Das gesame graphische Werk Druckgraphik [Complete Graphic Works]. Page 1415. 4 5/8" x 3 3/8"
Source: Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections. Tatler-Burgess Collection.
Subject: Wood-engraving; Antiques; Prints;
Identifier:
Format: image/jpeg
Title: Leaf from Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant
Creator: Valdosta State University
Date: 1520
Description: Leaf from Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant. Chapter 20, "Of Finding Treasures". B/W woodcut illustration by Albrecht Dürer. Image: B/W 4 5/8" x 3 3/8". Pictured in Vol 2 Albrecht Dürer: Das gesame graphische Werk Druckgraphik [Complete Graphic Works]. Page 1347.
Source: Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections. Tatler-Burgess Collection.
Subject: Wood-engraving; Antiques; Prints;
Identifier:
Format: image/jpeg
Title: Leaf from Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant. Chapter 53, "Envy and Hate"
Creator: Valdosta State University
Date: 1520
Description: Leaf from Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant. Chapter 53, "Envy and Hate". B/W woodcut illustration by Albrecht Dürer. Image: 4 5/8" x 3 3/8". Pictured in Vol 2 Albrecht Dürer: Das gesame graphische Werk Druckgraphik [Complete Graphic Works]. Page 1370.
Source: Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections. Tatler-Burgess Collection.
Subject: Wood-engraving; Antiques; Prints;
Identifier:
Format: image/jpeg
Resources from the Odum Library
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Sebastian Brant's The Ship of Fools; Research StarterSalem Press Encyclopedia, 2022, Research Starters
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Albrecht DürerSalem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, 2022, Research Starters
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Ship of Fools
by
Published in 1494 in Basel, The Ship of Fools was soon translated into every major European language. It provoked a vast number of imitations and remained steadily in print through the eighteenth century (with sporadic reprints after that). It still possesses an enormous vigor and vitality. The book owes its long life to an imagination, wit, and humor rich with insights into human nature, yet neither bitter nor namby pamby. Its commentary on the boasting, pedantry, false learning, gambling, gluttony, medical folly, adultery, greed, envy, hatred, pride and other failings that mark humanity are sharp and telling, and, sadly, as relevant today as they were 450 years ago. This translation by Professor Edwin H. Zeydel is the only accurate English translation ever published. (Barclay's version is really a pastiche written in imitation of Brant.) The form Professor Zeydel uses is verse, like the original, and he even retains the original rhyme scheme and meter. The achievement is remarkable, for it captures all the charm and movement of the original German while sacrificing nothing to readability and fluidity. Published now with the 114 original Renaissance woodcuts and with Professor Zeydel's annotations, a biography of Brant, a publishing history, and a survey of the work's influence, this will unquestionably remain the definitive edition of The Ship of Fools in English. The illustrations are part of Dover's Pictorial Archive Series and may be used by commercial artists free of charge.
ISBN: 0486257916Publication Date: 2011-12-08 -
Albrecht Durer
by
Hutchison's book is a complete guide on Durer and the research on his work, his historical import and his aesthetic legacy.
ISBN: 1135581711Publication Date: 2003-08-29 -
Albrecht dürer's Material World
by
The painter and printmaker Albrecht Dürer is one of the most important figures of the German Renaissance. This book accompanies the first major exhibition of the Whitworth art gallery's outstanding Dürer collection in over half a century. It offers a new perspective on Dürer as an intense observer of the worlds of manufacture, design and trade that fill his graphic art. Artworks and artefacts examined here expose understudied aspects of Dürer's art and practice, including his attentive examination of objects of daily domestic use, his involvement in economies of local manufacture and exchange, the microarchitectures of local craft and, finally, his attention to cultures of natural and philosophical inquiry and learning.
ISBN: 9781526167613Publication Date: 2024-04-30 -
Dürer
by
Dürer is the greatest of German artists and most representative of the German mind. He, like Leonardo, was a man of striking physical attractiveness, great charm of manner and conversation, and mental accomplishment, being well grounded in the sciences and mathematics of the day. His skill in draughtsmanship was extraordinary; Dürer is even more celebrated for his engravings on wood and copper than for his paintings. With both, the skill of his hand was at the service of the most minute observation and analytical research into the character and structure of form. Dürer, however, had not the feeling for abstract beauty and ideal grace that Leonardo possessed; but instead, a profound earnestness, a closer interest in humanity, and a more dramatic invention. Dürer was a great admirer of Luther; and in his own work is the equivalent of what was mighty in the Reformer. It is very serious and sincere; very human, and addressed the hearts and understanding of the masses. Nuremberg, his hometown, had become a great centre of printing and the chief distributor of books throughout Europe. Consequently, the art of engraving upon wood and copper, which may be called the pictorial branch of printing, was much encouraged. Of this opportunity Dürer took full advantage. The Renaissance in Germany was more a moral and intellectual than an artistic movement, partly due to northern conditions. The feeling for ideal grace and beauty is fostered by the study of the human form, and this had been flourishing predominantly in southern Europe. But Albrecht Dürer had a genius too powerful to be conquered. He remained profoundly Germanic in his stormy penchant for drama, as was his contemporary Mathias Grünewald, a fantastic visionary and rebel against all Italian seductions. Dürer, in spite of all his tense energy, dominated conflicting passions by a sovereign and speculative intelligence comparable with that of Leonardo. He, too, was on the border of two worlds, that of the Gothic age and that of the modern age, and on the border of two arts, being an engraver and draughtsman rather than a painter.
ISBN: 9781781606254Publication Date: 2013-03-15 -
Albrecht dürer and His Legacy
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Albrecht Dürer is the most significant and admired artist of the northern Renaissance. Tracing his work and influence from his earliest career to his powerful posthumous role within German culture, this richly illustrated book surveys all of the artist's best-known prints as well as numerous drawings and watercolors. The catalogue of a greatly anticipated exhibition of Dürer's work in England--including loans of many precious works rarely seen by the public--the volume features 85 color and 267 black-and-white illustrations. It follows Dürer's career from his first work in the medieval tradition of Martin Schongauer, through his Italian education in the classical tradition, to his sophisticated development of the woodcut and engraving techniques that changed the history of printmaking. The book examines Dürer's long-lived influence, from the obsession of artists and collectors with his work during the late sixteenth century to the iconic status he acquired amid the rise of German nationalism in the nineteenth. It considers how the popularity of his images migrated into a range of materials as diverse as porcelain and banknotes. This assessment of his art and legacy concludes with a contemplation of Dürers famous print, Melancholia, written by the Nobel Prize-winning German novelist Günter Grass, himself a printmaker. Offering a much-needed fresh look at the work of a major Renaissance artist, this handsome book is certain to deepen the broad international appreciation that Dürer's work already enjoys. EXHIBITION SCHEDULE ? The British Museum December 5, 2002 - March 23, 2003 ?
ISBN: 0691114935Publication Date: 2003-03-10 -
The Essential Dürer
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Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), perhaps the most famous of all German artists, embodies the modern ideal of the Renaissance man--he was a remarkable painter, printmaker, draftsman, designer, theoretician, and even a poet. More is known about his thoughts and his life than about any other Northern European master of his time, since he wrote extensively about himself, his family's history, his travels, and his friends. His woodcuts and engravings were avidly collected and copied across Europe, and they quickly established his reputation as a master. Praised in life and elegized in death by such thinkers as Martin Luther and Erasmus, he served Emperor Maximilian and other leading church and secular princes in the Holy Roman Empire. Although there is a vast specialized literature on the Nuremberg master, The Essential Dürer fills the need for a foundational book that covers the major aspects of his career. The essays included in this book, written by leading scholars from the United States and Germany, provide an accessible, up-to-date examination of Dürer's art and person as well as his posthumous fame. The essays address an array of topics, from separate and detailed studies of his paintings, drawings, printmaking, and sculpture, to broader concerns such as his visits to and interactions with Venice and the Netherlands, his personal relationships, and his relationships with other artists. Collectively these stimulating essays explore the brilliance of Dürer's creativity and the impact he had on his world, exposing him as an artist fully engaged with the tumultuous intellectual and religious challenges of his time.
ISBN: 9780812241877Publication Date: 2010-02-23
References
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Glasgow University Library Special Collections Department: Book of the Month - Ship of FoolsAn overview of "The Ship of Fools" and its history.
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EBSCO - Sebastian Brant, authorAn overview of the life of Sebastian Brant.
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National Gallery of Art - Albrecht DürerAn overview of the life of Albrecht Dürer, artist.
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528)An overview of the life of Albrecht Dürer, artist, and his contributions to art history.
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The British Museum - Albrecht DürerFacts about Albrecht Dürer, artist.
About The Ship of Fools
The Ship of Fools, or the Narrenschiff in the original German, was first published in 1494. Written by Sebastian Brant, the purpose of the work was to critique behavior that Brant considered immoral. Consisting of a series of poems focused on various sinful behaviors, each poem works to impart a moral lesson on the reader. Some of the unique behaviors noted beyond lust and slothfulness include judicial corruption, incompetence of individuals in the medical practice, the failure to finish building construction, and procrastination. Each of the poems in the book are accompanied by a woodcut illustration that provides a literal or allegorical interpretation. The majority of the woodcuts are attributed to the artist Albrecht Dürer. A popular work in its day, the book would be translated into a wide variety of languages.
Sebastian Brant, Poet, Author of The Ship of Fools
Born in Strasbourg, in modern day France, Brant was an influential figure of the late 1400s, having studied philosophy and law at the University of Basel, earning degrees in civil and church law by 1489.
Known for his literary work The Ship of Fools, Brant acted as a social critic of his time through the work, using poetic allegories to criticise the behaviors of the day he viewed as immoral and encourage readers to behave otherwise. The work also included commentary on the practices of the Catholic Church, causing some to see Brant as an early advocate for reform in the Catholic Church prior to the Protestant Reformation.
Albrecht Dürer, Artist, The Ship of Fools
Born in Nuremberg in 1471, Albrecht started his career training to be a goldsmith under his father. By 1486, Albrecht’s talent for drawing and his interest in art were apparent enough for him to become an apprentice under the painter and woodcut illustrator, Michael Wolgemut.
By the autumn of 1493, Albrecht was known to be in Strasbourg, designing the woodcut illustrations for books, likely including Sebastian Brant’s The Ship of Fools, before leaving for Nuremberg to be married to Agnes Frey in 1494.
Following a period of travel in Northern Italy which saw Albrecht influenced by artists of the early Renaissance, Albrecht returned to Nuremberg and became famous for his prints, woodcuts, engravings, and paintings.
Passing away in 1528 at the age of 56, Albrecht is considered one of the greatest German Renaissance artist of the time period in Europe, especially in the area of printmaking.
The National Gallery. (2022b, January 28). Albrecht Dürer the printmaker | National Gallery. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy3UNaFiDXc&t=48s
