St. Philip the Apostle

Albrecht Dürer.
St. Philip the Apostle.
Engraving. Nuremberg, 1526. (BRA0256)

The fifth and last of Dürer’s engraved apostles bears the date 1526 (altered from 1523). At that time Dürer was preparing a large two-panel painting called The Four Apostles for the Town Hall of the city of Nuremberg. The painting, inscribed with lengthy excerpts from Luther’s German translation of the Bible, includes a monumental figure of St. Paul, whose flowing robes were borrowed by the artist directly from his own St. Philip engraving. This engraving is one of Dürer’s simplest and most harmonious compositions.

StPhilip.jpg
Dürer the Engraver
St. Philip the Apostle