They were all painted after his Venetian visit of 1506. There he saw portraiture as faithful as his own, but softer and more agreeable. Open-minded student that he always was, he readily learned the lesson. The charming head of a young woman represents the fruits of this new experience. With a comeliness that is by no means merely pretty, one gets the sense also of character and of capacity. The tightly drawn hair, the head held alertly a little forward, tell of aggressiveness with self-control, of perfect physical and mental well-being. It was such strong mothers as this that bore the men who in finance, manufactures, commerce, and scholarship made the little city of Nuremberg famous. Initials on the bodice suggest that this may be the wife Agnes, who was an efficient business partner and a terror to certain easygoing friends. Firm yet minutely varied lines, modeling soft and lifelike but also decisive,--such are the technical merits of this masterpiece. [Illustration: DÜRER, by himself In the Prado, Madrid.] Among Dürer’s portraits of himself, the head in which the master gave himself the aspect of a Christ is the favorite of many people. The workmanship is of extraordinary carefulness and beauty. Every detail of the fur, of the flowing hair, of the powerful, slender hand, is there; but the effect remains large. There is in the face a sense of dignity, reserve, decision, and sympathy. Other portraits are probably much more like Dürer as Nuremberg saw him. This presents his own ideal of himself as creative artist, exemplifying a spiritual beauty that he ever strove to attain. Despite an old inscription reading 1500, we must date this portrait after that Venetian visit which brought to Dürer new power and self-confidence. [Illustration: EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN I By Dürer. In the Imperial Gallery, Vienna.] Efficiency was the trait Dürer most admired. His merchant friend Hieronymus Holzschuher possessed this quality in a high degree, as his portrait shows. He still directs toward an admiring world the bluest, brightest, steadiest eyes ever painted. The silvery hair and beard glisten like a halo before a blue sky. The firm, thin lips under the scant, well kept mustache still tell of the sagacity and persistence that won for Hieronymus a fortune and the mayoralty of a proud city. Nor is this power and rectitude without kindness. One feels the living presence of a man absolutely just, but also quick to see another man’s side, and withal humorous. Of an old age not too frosty and wholly vigorous, this picture is a most remarkable embodiment. That Dürer’s genius is as marked in a slight sketch as in elaborately executed works, witness the charcoal study which he did of his old mother just before her death. Have a few lines ever told more piteously of resigned decrepitude? THE FOUR APOSTLES