Innsbruck, I must paint you

Before Albrecht Dürer was 

,

he was a young hopeful making his way in the world. He was apprenticed to the workshop of Michael Wolgemut in Nuremberg, and then left his hometown in April 1490 as a journeyman. He spent several years in Basel.

Albrecht Dürer, Portrait of Michael Wolgemut
Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Dürer returned to Nuremberg in 1494, and married the bride his parents had selected for him, Agnes Frey.

Albrech Dürer, 'My Agnes'
1494 sketch
Public domain, via Wikimedia commons

About two months later, Dürer was on the road again. This time, his destination was Venice. On his way there, he stopped in Innsbruck.

I like to imagine that he was as beguiled by that city as I have been, because he painted some watercolors while he was there: the courtyard of Innsbruck Castle:

Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

And this view of Innsbruck from the north:

Public domain via Wikimedia commons

If you've visited Innsbruck, you'll notice that very little about this view is recognizable today. There are two things, however. It's hard to tell from this little reproduction, but Dürer captured the remarkable blue-green color of the Inn River that is still so striking today:

The Inn near Kufstein
October 2015

Another thing that is still recognizable is the building marked with the pink arrow (sorry, Albrecht):

Standing at the foot of the bridge which gives Innsbruck its name is the Ottoburg:

The Ottoburg today

According to the Ottoburg website, its history dates back to the 12th century. In 1498, future Emperor Maximilian I gave the building to his former nanny out of gratitude for her service to him. I picture him being quite a handful as a child, so it seems like the least he could do. ;-)

At the time Dürer painted his watercolors of Innsbruck, he had not yet come to Maximilian's attention. Later, Dürer would work on some of the most important parts of the emperor's artistic legacy, his 'Gedächtnis' (memorial), like the Arch of Honor, the prayerbook, and the Triumphal Procession.

Last but not least, posterity's 'view' of Maximilian has been largely determined by Dürer's final portrait, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna:

Public domain via Wikimedia commons

Yet there he was, just starting out, painting away in the capital of then King Maximilian's only home turf, Tyrol. I wonder, when Dürer looked back upon his career, did he ever feel a bit prescient?

We'll probably never know. For now, Tiny Albrecht Dürer gives you a friendly goodnight:

Playmobil AD that I bought in Nuremberg.
Portrait of Maximilian sold separately.