1496_Lot_and_Family_Flee_Sodom_Durer.txt

http://www.artbible.info/art/large/520.html

Albrecht Dürer 1471 – 1528
Lot and his family flee from Sodom

oil on panel (52 × 42 cm) — c. 1496
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

This work is linked to Genesis 19:24

When God had decided to punish the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, angels were sent to forwarn the righteous Lot, who lived in Sodom. They led Lot and his family out of Sodom and told them not to look back. Lot's wife couldn't resist the temptation and was turned into a pillar of salt.

On the other side of this panel Dürer painted a Madonna and child.

Albrecht Dürer biography

Albrecht Dürer

1471 - 1528

German engraver and painter whose fame and influence reach far beyond national borders. Famous for his graphic work; his engravings and woodcuts; in Dürer's time woodcuts are used to illustrate books.

Dürer was born in Nuremberg where he spends most of his life. After his apprenticeship he marries Agnes Frey in 1494, only to leave for Italy the very same year. Back in Nuremberg he creates among other works the 15-part Apocalypse.

In 1512 he is employed by Maximillian of Austria, who grants him several commissions.

Dürer strives for artistic liberation for North European art, thereby following the Italian Renaissance - to be free of the restrictions of traditional methods and more room for creativity and emotion.

Dürer dies in Nuremberg in 1528. The portrait on this page is a self-portrait from 1498. Dürer was one of the first artists to portray himself. He left a vast oeuvre: about 60 paintings, 250 woodcuts, 100 engravings, 6 etchings and more than 1,000 drawings and watercolours.