Jesus among the Doctors by Albrecht Durer Poster

Jesus Among the Doctors by Albrecht Durer, 1506, is an oil and egg tempera painting of a scene from the life of Christ at around age 12, as told in the Gospels. The young Jesus discusses and debates various matters with doctors, wise men and scholars of ancient Jerusalem, among the leaders of the learned Jewish men of his day. At the centre of Durer’s compact composition of heads, clothing and books is a tornado of the swirling, gesturing hands of Christ and the doctors as their amazing discussion proceeds. Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) was a German painter of the Northern Renaissance whose work as an engraver, printmaker, mathematician and theorist secured his reputation as one of the greatest artists of Europe. His many paintings, portraits, altarpieces, watercolors, and engravings were the first in the Northern Renaissance to use classical motifs from antiquity and the Italian Renaissance. Dürer’s unparalleled skill in drawing and engraving as well as mastery of perspective allowed him rapid execution of a range of motifs which elicit universal admiration to this day.