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Reviews 221 Carole M . Cusack School of Studies in Religion University of Sydney Eichberger, Dagmar and Charles Zika, ed., Durer and His Culture, Cambridge/Cambridge University Press, 1998; cloth; pp. xiv, 255; 77 b / w illustrations; R.R.P. AUS$99.95. In 1840, Christian Daniel Rauch's over life-size bronze statue of Alb Durer was unveiled in the centre of the Milk Market in Nuremberg. This square, renamed the Albrecht-Durer-Platz, provided a civic locus for honouring the town's most renowned son. J . L. Deifel's engraving of thismonument (Fig. 9.2) shows the artist as a timeless icon towering above the admiring crowd of burghers. The statue's temporary base was inscribed with the prayer: Father Diner, give us thy blessing, that like thee w e m a y truly cherish German art; be our guiding star until the grave, (p. 184) Rauch's statue is emblematic of the history of posthumous portrayals of Durer: he is larger than life, an embodiment of Nuremberg's past greatness and Germany's artistic patrimony, and a cultural hero claimed by different audiences as their o w n ever since his death in 1528. ^ Durer as both artist and mythic figure poses serious methodological challenges to modern scholars. At a symposium held in Melbourne in 1994 in conjunction with the major exhibition Albrecht Durer in the Collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, a group of noted specialist from several disciplines (art history, history, literature, and religion) focused on different aspects of Durer's cultural context as a way of broadening the dialogue about his art. Editors Dagmar Eichberger and Charles Zika state that 'the theoretical notion underlying this collection is the view that contemporary cultural practices and discourses, rather than Durer's evolutionary development as an artist, offer the key to 222 Reviews the understanding of much of Diirer's artistic work' (p. 1). H o w can modern scholars better locate Durer within his diverse and often conflicting cultural environment? While not all of the essays wholly succeed, especially those that dance around rather than engage the art, this compendium is marvellously thought provoking and highly recommended to anyone interested in Early Modern Germany. Eichberger's 'Naturalia and Artefacta' raises the intriguing thesis that Diirer's remarkable nature drawings, which range from beetles to complex landscapes, might have been stimulated by the discovery of the N e w World and by the n e w practice of collecting natural objects. While contact with the Americas and other newly explored lands certainly interested Durer and clearly affected Europeans' traditional sense of the limits of nature and geography, the direct influence upon his art is questionable. His personal curiosity about nature was fully manifested in his art from the early 1490s while the new or revised world view would take a few decades to impact on his culture. Chronological problems are again raised by her efforts to explain Diirer's fascination with the external appearance of things as part of the broader and later development of Wunderkammers with their categorisation of objects into naturalia (raw materials), exotica, and artefacta (objects crafted from these materials). Larry Silver's 'Germanic Patriotism in the Age of Durer' offers a stimulating consideration of Germania. A s contemporary humanists selectively mined Tacitus and other ancient authors, they sought to recover a German past that might help them define their present German identity. Heinrich Bebel wrote 'We are an autochthonous people, born from the soil of the land on which w e n o w make our home' (p. 39). Conrad Celtes and others championed their historical link with their physical place. History, geography, and a healthy dose of myth coincide in their nationalistic rhetoric. As Silver has shown elsewhere, their attitudes about landscape greatly influenced Albrecht Altdorfer, among others. Making the case for Diirer is more difficult. Silver suggests that Diirer's Landscape with Cannon etching (1518) is a statement about the imperial army's defence of the German lands in the face of the mounting Turkish threat. W i m Hiisken proposes that contemporary humanistic literature on deceit aids our understanding of the so-called Michelfeldt Tapestry, Reviews 223 an allegorical woodcut...

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