I finally had the opportunity to I started at the beginning of the show, and each room leads you through various sets of prints and symbols such as The Apocalypse, War and Suffering and Gender and Anxiety. Soaking up the images and the creatures found in them, I breezed to the back room where a video about Durer’s studio is featured.
I knew a little about printmaking before entering the show but in only a few minutes the video explained in detail just how he created his works, the amazing tools and more amazing skill that went into his woodcarvings was fascinating. Almost before the movie ended I realized I had to head back in to the show.
This time I went backwards, and used the magnifying glass I had been carrying around. I was taken by each shadowy mountain cliff he carved. I could not believe the detail of the stacked stones that created crumbling architecture and his almost porous wooden beams. These features, although mainly set in the background not only set the stage for his creatures but help create a reality for them. He placed them in a world just like his own, and the figures although often more fantasy begin to lean towards the real. I can only imagine what his 16th century audience felt when they saw the prints!
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