“Salvator Mundi” by Albrecht Dürer
“Salvator Mundi” by Albrecht Dürer is an unfinished painting depicting Christ as Savior of the World. His right hand is raised in a blessing, and his left holds a crystal orb representing the earth.
Dürer began this work before he departed for Italy in 1505 and only completed the painting of the richly colored drapery. The unfinished picture of the face and hands show Dürer’s detailed preparatory drawings.
This painting shows Dürer’s extensive and meticulous drawing skills.
Salvator Mundi is Latin for the Savior of the World. This theme is the subject of many iconography paintings depicting Christ.
Usually with his right hand raised in blessing and his left hand holding an orb surmounted by a cross.
The “cross-bearing orb,” has been a Christian symbol of authority since the Middle Ages, used on coins, in iconography, and with a scepter as royal regalia.
The cross represents Christ’s dominion over the world, and this theme was made famous by Northern painters such as Jan van Eyck, Hans Memling, and Albrecht Dürer.
Dürer was born in Nuremberg, and his vast body of work includes engravings, prints, altarpieces, portraits and watercolors, and academic books.
Dürer established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties due to his high-quality woodcut prints.
He cultivated communications with the major Italian artists of his time, and from 1512 he was patronized by emperor Maximilian I.
Dürer’s introduced classical motifs into Northern art. He became one of the most important figures of the Northern Renaissance through his association with Italian artists and German humanists.
His authority was supported by his theoretical treatises, which covered mathematics, perspective, and proportions. Both the Lutheran and Episcopal Churches also commemorate Dürer.
- Title: Salvator Mundi
- Artist: Albrecht Dürer
- Year: 1505
- Type: Oil on linden
- Dimensions: 22 7/8 x 18 1/2in. (58.1 x 47cm)
- Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art – MET and Met Breuer
- Artist: Albrecht Dürer
- Born: 1471 – Nuremberg, Holy Roman Empire
- Died: 1528 (aged 56) – Nuremberg, Holy Roman Empire
- Nationality: German
- Movement: High Renaissance
- Notable works:
MET European Paintings Collection
- “Pygmalion and Galatea” by Jean-Léon
- “Saint Jerome as Scholar” by El Greco
- “Portrait of Juan de Pareja” by Diego Velázquez
- “Camille Monet on a Garden Bench” by Claude Monet
- “View of Toledo” by El Greco
- “The Musicians” by Caravaggio
- “The Death of Socrates” by Jacques-Louis David
- “The Harvesters” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
- “Young Woman Drawing” by Marie-Denise Villers
- “The Grand Canal, Venice” by J. M. W. Turner
- “The Houses of Parliament (Effect of Fog)” by Claude Monet
- “Madame Cézanne in a Red Dress” by Paul Cézanne
“If a man devotes himself to art,
much evil is avoided that happens otherwise if one is idle.”
– Albrecht Dürer
Photo Credit: 1) Albrecht Dürer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons