Durer And Hiroshige

4 Pages 1114 Words

Both Dürer and Hiroshige create lasting images through their respective mediums. Albrecht Dürer’s St. Jerome in His Study is an engraving that highlights Dürer’s mastery of the medium through key details that focus on St. Jerome and captivates the viewer, while Ando Hiroshige’s A Bridge in a Snowy Landscape focuses on nature with details.
Great detail is used in St. Jerome in His Study to bring to life the many nuances of the engraving. The viewer can see individual hairs in the lion’s fur and well as knots in the beams of the ceilings. Dürer has made the room feel and look life-like. The light streaming in through the window appears to be real. It creates the exact shadow from the glass window on the wall and it focuses in on St. Jerome to cause a shadow against the wall. Also the cushions on the chairs look soft and plush, like you could sink into them. Creating volume in a piece of work is hard to do, but Dürer accomplished it with the cushions as well as the gourd hanging from the ceiling. The gourd looks suspended in space as though I am standing in the room. The light from the window bounces off the front of the gourd to create depth. Using only shades grey, all of these details combine to make the viewer aware of the great skill of the artist without really having to think about it.
When the viewer looks at the engraving a relaxed, calm mood is present. St. Jerome has his head bowed, brows furrowed, and his shoulders hunched in deep thought, but he looks relaxed all the same. Man’s best friend, the dog, his peacefully asleep next to a lion. One would think that a dog would be afraid of a lion, but both animals look very serene. The lion is young, but he looks tranquil from the expression on his face. But it also appears that the lion is protecting St. Jerome, he is lying awake at the entrance to the study to keep away interrupters, since as the hourglass behind St. Jerome implies time is only temp...