Albrecht Altdorfer, 'Landscape with a Footbridge', about 1518-20
About the work
Overview
This scene probably doesn't represent a particular place but is rather an impression of the Danube valley, where Altdorfer lived. It is one of two paintings by Altdorfer without figures, which reflected the development of landscape painting as a subject in its own right.
The low viewpoint emphasises the height of the wooden footbridge that leads to the gatehouse of a castle. It is the anchor of the scene, joining the building on the left to the wilderness on the right, connecting civilisation with nature. The true subject of the picture, however, is the detailed study of the enormous larch tree at the centre, its branches growing wildly in all directions.
The man-made structures seem frail by comparison to nature. Framed by the bridge’s stilt-like supports is a small village, the spire of its church reaching up above the treetops, minuscule in the shadow of the rocky mountain in the distance.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Landscape with a Footbridge
- Artist
- Albrecht Altdorfer
- Artist dates
- shortly before 1480 - 1538
- Date made
- about 1518-20
- Medium and support
- oil on parchment, mounted on wood
- Dimensions
- 41.2 × 35.5 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1961
- Inventory number
- NG6320
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 16th-century German Frame
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Susan Foister, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The German Paintings before 1800’, London 2024; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2014Strange Beauty: Masters of the German RenaissanceThe National Gallery (London)19 February 2014 - 11 May 2014
-
2014Realms of Imagination: Albrecht Altdorfer and the Expressivity of Art around 1500Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie5 November 2014 - 8 February 2015Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien16 March 2015 - 14 June 2015
-
2020Albrecht Altdorfer: A German Renaissance MasterMusée du Louvre30 September 2020 - 8 March 2021
-
2023Masterpieces from the National GalleryShanghai Art Museum East17 January 2023 - 7 May 2023National Museum of Korea2 June 2023 - 9 October 2023Hong Kong Palace Museum22 November 2023 - 11 April 2024Chimei Museum2 May 2024 - 1 September 2024
Bibliography
-
1923M.J. Friedländer, Albrecht Altdorfer, Belin 1923
-
1939O. Benesch, Der Maler Albrecht Altdorfer, Vienna 1939
-
1941L. von Baldass, Albrecht Altdorfer, Vienna 1941
-
1947M.J. Friedländer, Über die Landschaftsmalerei und andere Bildgattungen: Essays, The Hague 1947
-
1964A. Stange, Malerei der Donauschule, Munich 1964
-
1965The National Gallery, The National Gallery: June 1962 - December 1964, London 1965
-
1965E. Ruhmer, Albrecht Altdorfer, Munich 1965
-
1973N. Watteck, 'Hallein und seine Umgebung auf Werken von Albrecht Altdorfer', Alte und Moderne Kunst, 126, 1973, pp. 1-8
-
1975F. Winzinger, Albrecht Altdorfer: Die Gemälde, Munich 1975
-
1977P. Vaisse, 'Review: F. Winzinger, Albrecht Altdorfer: Die Gemälde, 1975', Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, XL, 1977, pp. 310-24
-
1985A. Smith, Early Netherlandish and German Paintings, London 1985
-
1993C. Wood, Albrecht Altdorfer and the Origins of Landscape, London 1993
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
-
2024S. Foister, National Gallery Catalogues: The German Paintings before 1800, 2 vols, London 2024
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
Images
More works by Albrecht Altdorfer
