Willibald Pirckheimer

Unknown artist

The artist copied Dürer’s 1524 copper engraved portrait Willibald Pirckheimers from the original page. Although he implemented it as Mezzotinto, expanded the image section slightly, put the depicted in an oval and changed the inscription, the orientation on the template is clearly visible. As Dürer, he designs the humanist as a side-facing chest in the fur skirt, the view shrinks into the distance, whereby the window crosses are reflected in the eyes. While there is no evidence of Dürer as the spiritual creator of the image idea, the author’s and publisher’s address is inserted below the informative inscription. The picture, numbered “2” on the top right, was one of 50 portraits that appeared in Johann Jakob Bruckers (1696-1770) 1747 in Augsburg, a collection of German scholars from the 15th to the 17th centuries. One specimen was in Heller’s possession (see JH.Coll.vit.q.14 of the Bamberg State Library).