arthistoricum.net

Plants produce images, nature is an artist. What reads like an avowal of contemporary eco-art was already a subject of intense interest in early modern times: after all, there are many forms in nature that are reminiscent of a human figure - such as the mandragora or mandrake root. Explanations ranged from superstition and speculation about divine messages hidden in creation to scientific theories. At the same time, the relationship between natural and artificial products and the conditions for precise observation were also considered. One highlight of these discussions was the publication of an anthropomorphic beetroot in 1670 in Germany's first scientific journal.
German version: https://doi.org/10.11588/arthistoricum.1369

The Traumgesicht (Dream Vision) is considered one of Albrecht Dürer’s most significant works. Created in 1525, during a time of immense panic over the impending apocalypse, Dürer’s watercolor of a deluge is commonly interpreted as the direct expression of a deeply personal vision experienced by the artist. This book, however, proposes a contrasting interpretation. Drawing on other works from the Reformation period, such as Michael Ostendorfer’s famous woodcut The Pilgrimage to the Schöne Maria of Regensburg, it presents the Traumgesicht as a highly constructed and ambiguous image – as nothing less than a summation of Dürer’s art theory.