CERCLE 9

39 E xactly 500 years ago relations between the terri- tories that are now Germany and Barcelona were undergoing one of the most significant moments in their history. In this field of politics and international diplomacy, Al- brecht Dürer manifests himself as the most important artist of the German Renaissance. He is a key player for his innovation in the field of engraving, a discipline that was extraordinarily common at the time. Dürer, Master of the Renaissance , offers 70 works by this artist in a selection that is of itself historical in nature because, for the first time, an exhibition is being held simultaneously in the three institutional headquarters located on Barcelona's Cathedral Square, so on this oc- casion both contents and vessel are closely related. The historical relevance of Maximilian I and then of Charles V in Dürer's own work, together with the importance of the imperial cities of Nuremberg and Augsburg and their bankers in the development of European events pertaining to the discovery of the New World, are a ve- hicle to portray the important role of the city of Barce- lona at that time. To understand Dürer's creative capacity, we must take into consideration the German mentality, as Panofsky says in his book about the artist: anyone who wants to build something must be obstinate in using a new pat- tern, never seen before. The best 15th-century engrav- ers are not painters, but goldsmiths, who know how to apply their technique to printing on paper. Dürer is an excellent painter, the son of a goldsmith of Hungarian origin, from whom he learns this technique during his childhood. The influence of Dürer on contemporary and later art- ists is unquestionable. In Barcelona, next to the choir of the Cathedral, there is a Holy Supper in the Chapel of San Ignacio, based on an engraving by Dürer. More recent is one of the most beautiful examples of this in- fluence in the Sagrada Familia. On the Passion Façade, Subirachs refers to the engraving 'Melancholy'. It in- cludes a magic square on the wall, next to the scene of the kiss of Judas' betrayal, and on the bronze doors it incorporates the polyhedron and the sphere, and adds the word 'Melencolia', as Dürer writes in what is per- haps his most famous engraving.█ helena alonso is the curator of the dürer , master of the renaissance exhibition . this text shows a summary of her introduction and can be read in its entirety in the official exhibition catalogue ( durero . isbn : 978-84-9498 ) El gran carro triomfal de Maximilià I (detall) . Primera estampa d'una sèrie de vuit fulls El gran carro triunfal de Maximiliano I (detalle) . Primera e stampa de una serie de ocho hojas The left-most of eight prints comprising The Great Triumphal Chariot of Maximilian I (detail) Alberto Durero, 1518-1522