Self-Portrait with Fur-Trimmed Robe

What it is

This is an oil painting on panel made by Albrecht Dürer, completed early in 1500. It is the last of his three painted self-portraits and is now held by the Bavarian State Painting Collections in Munich.

Why it matters

Dürer shows himself facing the viewer directly, his hand raised as if blessing, in a pose that strongly recalls medieval depictions of Christ. At the time, a frontal pose in a secular portrait was highly unusual and could be seen as bold or even blasphemous. The painting reflects Dürer's growing sense of himself as an artist of unique, almost divine, creative gifts, and marks the turn from youth to maturity according to ideas of the time.

Look closer

• Why might Dürer have chosen a pose normally reserved for images of Christ?
• What do the gold inscriptions and monogram in the background tell you about how Dürer wanted to be remembered?
• How does this image of calm dignity compare with how artists had portrayed themselves before?