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Secondary sourcePainting1526

The Four Apostles

Albrecht Dürer · 1526

A Reformation-era diptych by Albrecht Dürer giving Paul, shown with sword and book, a prominent place alongside John, Peter and Mark.

Depicts Paul holding sword and book, given special prominence in Dürer's Reformation-era statement on scripture.

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Two side-by-side painted panels showing four robed men. Left panel: a young man in red robe and green undergarment holds a open book, with an older bearded man behind him holding a book and golden key. Right panel: a bald bearded man in white robe holds a large red-bound book, with a bearded man behind him holding a sword.
Albrecht Dürer, The Four Apostles, 1526. Alte Pinakothek, Munich.

About this source

What it is

This diptych, painted by Albrecht Dürer in 1526, consists of two large oil panels showing four figures of early Christianity: John, Peter, Mark and Paul. Paul appears in the right panel holding a large red book, with a sword-bearing figure beside him. It is held today at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.

Why it matters

Dürer painted this shortly after converting to Protestantism, and the inscriptions at the bottom warn against false teaching, echoing Paul's own letters. By giving Paul such prominence and pairing him with symbols of the sword (his martyrdom) and the book (his New Testament letters), Dürer used the apostle to make a statement about the authority of scripture over church tradition during the Reformation.

Look closer

  • What do the objects each figure holds tell you about how they were remembered?
  • Why might Dürer have chosen everyday, realistic faces rather than idealised ones?
  • How does this painting use a religious figure to make a political and religious argument about its own time?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Saint Paul on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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