“Portrait of Jakob Muffel” by Albrecht Durer

“Portrait of Jakob Muffel” by Albrecht Dürer depicts the burgomaster of Nuremberg, who was the chief magistrate of the city. It was probably commissioned for an official celebration and exhibited at the city’s town hall.

The cultural flowering of Nuremberg, in the 15th and 16th centuries, made it the center of the German Renaissance. In 1525, the year before this painting, Nuremberg accepted the Protestant Reformation, and in 1532, the religious Peace of Nuremberg, by which the Lutherans gained significant concessions, was signed in the city.

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 established 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, and through his association with Italian artists and German humanists, he became one of the most important figures of the Northern Renaissance.

This was supported by his theoretical treatises, which covered mathematics, perspective, and proportions. Dürer is also commemorated by both the Lutheran and Episcopal Churches.