The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-11-21

diately pirated, and copies were put
upon the market The drawing in each
case was appealing, and il was full of
sentiment, Imagination. delightfully."- ex-
ecuted and quite navel in the manner
of handling, fact that the public was
not Slow to recognize. Between times
he painted, and in this ne was far more
interested; but there was not always
demand for his pictures: ne confined
himself almost entirely to portraiture.
with occasionally a religious subject,
but with the advance of printing there
came opportunities for wood engraving.
of which he did much Wood engraving
at that time was in a feeble state of
progress, little above the level of a
mechanical craft. 1t is due to Durer
that the art was brought to a high
rank, for he inaugurated a new era of
wood engraving as a pictorial art
Durer now made a second visit TO
Venice. going alone and finding appre-
citation among the newer men who had
sprung up since his first visit. He did
we'll there financially, and was even
offered a sinecure post, with good
salary, by the Venetian council if he
would take up a permanent residence
in that city: but love for home and mis-
native city prevailed. and he returned
to Nuremberg in 1867. where commits
sions now came in for paintings, and
his ambition was satisfied at last. The
elector of Saxony. Frederick the Wise.
commanded a large picture, but when
ii was completed il had cost more in
time and expense than the sum paid
for it. and still another painting was
ordered, over which there was much
discussion as to price, Durer finding in
the end that he was making nothing
with his great canYases, and he con-
Guided in the future to stick to engrav-
TO- L ~
lured irto picture making, though al
ways To his financial disadvantage.
Among his engravings were a set rep
reSenting the Life of the Holy Virgin"
the Passion of Jesus Chris" and other
religious subjects. Durer was the first
to make use of the art of etching. with
acid on metal, if. indeed, he was not
the actual dis,coverer of the process.
In February, 1912, there came to Muir
ernberg the Emperor Macmillan. and
with his advent Durer thought he saw
opened up career Of riches and glory.
The ambition of this monarch was to
excel in every direction. He was lavish
in his patronage of all the fine arts, of
everything, in fact. that could add to
his glory, and 1t must be added that he
concerned himself little with the scme-
what important part of settling the
bills due to the men of genius ne thus
encoura ged. 1t seemed TO him that the
wood engravingS of Durer could be
turned to his account and glory if he
were made the subject Of some spirited
picture that should find circulation
about the country so he commissioned
the artist to make a series of elaborate
woodcuts representing his majesty in a
splendid procession. riding under a. tri-
un1phal arch. Ninety-two blocks did
Durer design. and they were superb;
blt although he appealed and appealed
never a penny was he paid fer the
work. He was lured into doing much
other work. and always We're there
promises, but no remuneration.
Once more and for the last time
Durer started out into the world to
make voyage to foreign countries,
this time taking with him his wife and
her maid. The town council Of Ant
werp offered him, as had that of Venice
a residence, salary ard immunity
from taxation If he would remain there,
but he refused and came back to Muir
emberg. Meanwhile he had been pros
porous in introducing his work in other
places. realizing much from the sale
of his engravings. Once home. now
ever. he relaxed work at engraving. He
became profoundly interested in relig-
ious topics and in the progress of Luth-
erGn doctrines. he painted again. pre-
senting two large upright panels TO
the town council of Nuremberg which
are now at Munich. and he began to
write, publishing a sort of preliminary
work. entitled THE Teaching of Meas
urements BY Rule and Compass. In
Lines, Planes and Solids.r a work on
geometry, and he put forth a treatise
on THE Art of Fertilization. . He died
suddenly on April 6. 1928.
So passed away one of the most re-
markable of men and one of the great
est artists of all time. 1t is in his black