Portrait of a young woman by Albrecht Durer

The first works that have come down to us are drawings, engravings and several picturesque portraits. The earliest of them is a picture made by a silver pencil – “Self-portrait”. This half-child’s work defines much of Durer’s typical.

The figure is still devoid of certainty, but the sharpness of the characteristics is already evident. Despite the presence of some of the details typical of Late Gothic art, particularly the deliberately “gesture-telling” gesture, the individuality of a person has already been revealed to some extent.

In the thin, nervous face of a thirteen-year-old boy with an intelligent, serious look, in his elegant slender hand recognizes the noble features of the future Artist.