Albrecht Dürer, “The Men’s Bath”, Date Unknown (1490-1528), Woodcut on Paper, 38.7 x 27.9 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

A printmaker and painter from Nuremberg, Albrecht Dürer is considered one of the most prolific and inventive artists in the German Renaissance. Dürer worked and traveled frequently to Italy during his studies of visual arts and spent time with a lifelong partner, Willibald Prickheimer, a German lawyer and humanist author.

Albrecht Dürer’s depiction of men relaxing in a public bath house was unusual in the early 1500s because it showed nudity without an accompanying mythological or biblical narrative. The print showcases Dürer’s ability to depict the male figure in various inventive poses and may feature portraits of some of his friends. Meant to be studied closely, the image includes visual puns such as the faucet placed near the man’s groin at left. The popularity of the print during Dürer’s lifetime may relate to the 1496 closure of the public bath in his hometown of Nuremberg to prevent a syphilis outbreak.

Notes: The “Ideas Made of Light” blog has an excellent article by its author, artist and UI designer Scott M.McDaniel, on Albecht Dürer’s “The Men’s Bathhouse” at: http://www.scottmcd.net/artanalysis/?p=702

_____________________________

If you find this site interesting and informative, please consider making a donation to support its yearly costs for hosting and research. The donation app at the side bar asks that you allow WordPress to process your donation of choice through this site’s Stripe account. There are no other obligations on your part.

Please consider signing up for a free subscription, This enables notifications of the site’s latest postings. To those who have used the comment section at the end of each article, I thank you for your support and suggestions; I particularly appreciate your alerts to the occasional typos and errors found in the articles.