Portrait of the Artist Holding a Thistle

Portrait of the Artist Holding a Thistle
Portrait of the Artist Holding a Thistle
Artist	Albrecht Dürer
Year	1493
Type	Oil on vellum (transferred to canvas ca. 1840)
Dimensions	56.5 cm × 44.5 cm (22.2 in × 17.5 in)
Location	Louvre, Paris

Portrait of the Artist Holding a Thistle (or Eryngium) is an oil painting on parchment pasted on canvas by German artist Albrecht Dürer. Painted in 1493, it is the earliest of Dürer's painted self-portraits and has been identified as one of the first self-portraits painted by a Northern artist.^[1] It was acquired in 1922 by the Louvre in Paris.^[2]

Dürer looks out at the viewer with a psychologically complex but rather melancholy and reserved, serious minded, facial expression. During the 15th century, thistles were symbols of male conjugal fidelity.^[3]

^ Fenyő, Iván (1956). Albrecht Dürer. Budapest: Corvina. p. 16.
^ Cite error: The named reference Gowing164 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Brion (1960), p. 127

[1] Fenyő, Iván (1956). Albrecht Dürer. Budapest: Corvina. p. 16.

[Gowing164-2] Cite error: The named reference Gowing164 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[3] Brion (1960), p. 127

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