“Portrait of a young man” – one of the best paintings by a young artist. Durer was the first of the painters of that period who created the famous monogram – the big letter A and D inscribed in it and marked his works.
This portrait also has a monogram, but who is depicted here? The young man holds a sheet of paper in his hand, several letters of his name are visible on it. Art critics established that it was Birkhart von Riesen, a merchant from Danzig, whom Durer wrote in his diary that he made his portrait and received eight florins. The painting was performed during the artist’s trip to the Netherlands in Antwerp.
Bernhard von Rezen was a collector of works of art, he was born into a patrician family in Danzig and received a brilliant education. At that time, many prosperous business people and statesmen ordered portraits of Albrecht Durer. At the age of thirty, von Rezen also turned to a famous painter.
Albrecht Durer created this portrait in his characteristic manner. The fields of his hat are cut off by the edges of the picture, thereby emphasizing his brightly lit face. Eyes fixed in the distance, strong-willed chin – he is full of strength and vitality…
What a pity that Birkhart von Riesen has such a sad fate – he died of the plague just a few months later, in October 1521.
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