
Public Domain
Albrecht Dürer painted the portrait of his mother, Barbara Holper, in 1490 when she was around 39 years old. The oil-on-panel work originally formed a diptych with a companion portrait of Dürer's father, from which it was separated by at least 1628. Barbara's portrait was long considered lost until art historian Lotte Brand Philip reattributed it in 1977.
Barbara Holper was the daughter of Hieronymus Holper, under whom Dürer's father served his goldsmith apprenticeship. The two men became friends, and Holper gave his daughter in marriage when she was just 15 and Dürer senior was 40. Dürer's writings describe his parents' difficult lives and many setbacks. Only three of their 18 children survived to adulthood.
The portrait hangs at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, which reunited both parent portraits for a 2012 exhibition. Dürer's tight focus on his mother's face distinguishes him from contemporaries, showing skill that art historian Stephan Kemperdick called "beyond Wolgemut and his circle."
Other masterpieces from the Northern Renaissance movement

Jan van Eyck, 1436
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Jan van Eyck, 1434
National Gallery, London

Hugo van der Goes, 1475
Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Florence

Jan van Eyck, 1432
Saint Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent

Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1526
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Madrid
Jan van Eyck
St. Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Ghent

Jan van Eyck
St. Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Ghent

Jan van Eyck
Sabauda Gallery, Turin, Turin
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