Albrecht Dürer's copperplate engravings, 'Knight, Death, and the Devil' (1513), 'Melencholia I', and 'Saint Jerome in His Study' (1514) represent a landmark in the history of printmaking. As a group, the prints have had a huge, lasting impact thanks to their sheer artistry, their cultural influence (particularly via reproductions), and religious subject matter. They have been marvelled at and variously interpreted by artists and scholars for centuries.
The Berlin Kupferstichkabinett is now taking the 500th anniversary of these 'Meisterstiche' or 'Master Engravings' as an opportunity to investigate the importance of these seminal works of engraving for today's world. The exhibition focuses on the artistic freedom and autonomy displayed in these iconic works from the early modern era, and their subsequent cultural impact. How did Dürer use the technique of engraving to render spaces, materials, lighting situtations, and moods?
What do the three Master Engravings have in common and how does this affect their interpretation as individual works and as a set? And lastly: does each new generation see these works in a different light?
The small, one-room 'cabinet' showing in the Gemäldegalerie has been conceived as a practical course for young post-graduate art historians, held in partnership with the advanced research group 'BildEvidenz' which explores history and aesthetics at Berlin's Freie Universität. Beyond merely celebrating the 500th anniversary of these seminal works, the exhibition examines their significance for art history and current modes of perception in art.

The 'cabinet exhibition' is the latest instalment in the series 'Cabinet in the Gallery', presented by the Kupferstichkabinett.

Presented by: Kupferstichkabinett