The great English architect and designer AWN Pugin passionately promoted the Gothic style. He was inspired, among others, by Albrecht Dürer (1471 – 1528), widely recognized as the greatest German Renaissance artist.
As part of the Birmingham-wide celebration of the bicentenary of Pugin’s birth, this display will showcase the eight prints and single drawing by Dürer from the Barber’s collection. These are not only exemplary for their skillful execution and detail, but also show Dürer’s innovative approach to religious and secular subjects. The display also includes stained-glass designs by two other 16th-century German artists – Hans Holbein and Abel Stimmer.
The display is complemented by special labels for other works in the Barber associated with Pugin. These include a fine late medieval Brussels wood carving, an Early Netherlandish triptych of the Deposition, which Pugin himself owned, and a solid oak table with an elaborately carved base, designed by Pugin in about 1835 (on loan from King Edward’s School).
Above image: Dürer, St. Christopher