Albrecht Dürer - Self-portrait at 28 with fur-trimmed robe

• Title: Self-portrait at 28 with fur-trimmed robe
• Artist: Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)
• Date: 1500
• Medium: Oil on lime panel
• Dimensions: 67 x 49 cm

“Self-Portrait at 28” is often considered to be Dürer’s most complex self-portrait, particularly because Dürer paints himself to resemble earlier representations of Jesus Christ. The self-portrait follows conventions of religious painting- the symmetry of the compostion; the frontal view of the subject; the sombre, dark tones of brown on a black backgound; the manner in which the artist directly confronts the viewer with an inflexible and impersonal dignity. It also follows conventions in representing Jesus- the loose, curly, long hair, and the beard and mustache.

Yet it is not Jesus but Dürer, a man. Under the facial mask of sterness with frowning brows and through the clear staring eyes, there is a world of emotions, including some form of torment. His hand in the middle of his chest is not held in an act of blessing but to hold his coat closed, like a gesture of protection. This self-portrait of Dûrer is an icon of the Renaissance by showing Jesus as a man, a superior man, a tormented, deep soul out of time and space, a Humanist, but not the son of God, neither a martyr nor a savior.