“Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other ‘sins’ are invented nonsense. (Hurting yourself is not sinful—just stupid).” —Robert A. Heinlein

“Sin is whatever obscures the soul.” —Andre Gide

I did finally get down to see the Albrecht Dürer exhibit at the fine Arts Museum last month.
It was in some ways disappointing. I guess it would have been better if I went back several times to study the works. As it was I found myself making sketches, of little rabbits in one of the Holy Family portrayals, and also trying to capture the odd way that some of the angel's faces are rendered in the Apocalypse woodcuts. I guess it has something to do with the way that lines are made in carving a woodcut--but one of the angels looks seriously cracked. The angels are supposed to be beautiful in some ways and terrible in some ways. It is a picture of the end of the world after all-- but this one angel has a sort of crooked smile on his face, as if he thinks the whole thing is funny-- and it's not some little angel off to the side either, he's very prominent, right center, and kind of good looking too, if a little androgynous. I find it hard to believe that Dürer made a little mistake and thought, "Maybe they won't notice." No, every line counts, and each image is a literal interpretation of the words in Book of Revelations, one can find the exact chapter and verse for every detail in those woodcuts.
I'm guessing the look was intentional, as if he thought the whole thing was a little crazy.

In one of my favorite woodcuts, A composition of the holy family, there is a brace of rabbits in the foreground, included no doubt as a reference to the fertility of spring. What's odd is that they do not so much resemble the cute bunnies of contemporary kitsch as they look like athletes toweling off after a good run.
I wonder if rabbits were different back then.
The other odd thing about the work is the relationship between the Mother and Child, and Joseph who stands apart, looking back at them. While Jesus and Mary seem quite placid, drawn with round smooth lines, Joseph looks positively haunted, drawn with the same wildness that Dürer uses for wind tossed trees and rocky mountains. Again, I wonder at the reason for this emotion, is it some accident, or did the artist mean to fill his eyes with pain and regret? A distant, leafless tree, alone on the horizon, seems to echo his separation from the others.

I suppose the dissapointment came from the familiarity of so many of the works. I have a book that reproduces all of the woodcuts, in a format that close to the original size. There were reproductions of two well known engravings in my parents home, and I own a copy of one that was pressed from the original plate.
Part of the excitement, is of course, the interaction with others. The Museum was good enough to provide large magnifiers, for those of us whose prescriptions are too weak.. I had one nice chat with a couple, about a numerical diagram in "Melancholia," and another exchange about the Italian influence in Dürer's rendering of cloth drapery. And there was at least one woman guiding some children through the religious themes with an enthusiasm that made me want to give her a wide berth, there was something about her that reminded me of that angels destructive glee.

low hazey morning

I made these...
Just a few years ago when I had access to a kiln and a centrifugal casting apparatus.