“It would be a giant step”: Albrecht Dürer's early work discovered on the altar?

Much research has been carried out on the famous Nuremberg painter Albrecht Dürer - but there are still surprises.

An early work by the artist may now have been discovered.

Nuremberg - Hardly any other artist has been researched as much as Albrecht Dürer.

But there are still surprises around the painter from Nuremberg *: An early work by him may have been discovered on a late Gothic winged altar in Crailsheim.

That would be a sensation not only for the city in Baden-Württemberg.

Nuremberg: early Albrecht Dürer work discovered on the altar?

“It would be a giant step for Dürer's research,” says Matthias Less from the Bavarian National Museum in Munich.

Because that would shed new light on Dürer's apprenticeship with the Nuremberg painter Michael Wolgemut.

The experts are convinced that the high altar, which was built around 1490 and depicts the life of John the Baptist and the Passion of Christ, comes from his workshop.

One of the colorful scenes shows the executioner with the head of Johannes.

The facial expression, the muscular stature, the elegant stance - all of this is unmistakably Dürer, says the art historian Manuel Teget-Welz from the University of Erlangen.

"There are a number of similarities to other works, which shows his personal signature."

Albrecht Dürer: Nuremberg's most famous artist

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Found an early work by the Nuremberg artist Dürer?

Infrared investigation could provide information

An examination of the altar with infrared could provide more information.

The Institute for Art Technology and Conservation at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg has the technical equipment for this. * But there are no concrete plans yet, says Dürer expert Benno Baumbauer.

“I could imagine, however, that we will take this on in the long term.”

Kam