Provenance and attribution Portrait Diptych of Dürer's Parents

detail showing monogram

in 1977, art historian lotte brand philip proposed unknown woman in coif, held germanisches nationalmuseum in nuremberg, original portrait of barbara holper. nuremberg panel thought have originated member of wolgemut s workshop, franconian artist in circle, or anonymous mainz painter master w. b. brand philip s attribution based on striking similarities in composition , shared tone, theme , size father panel @ uffizi. in both works sitters holding rosary beads, , dürer attentively describes hands. both portraits show sitter in same pose, against coloured background. both lit upper left. boards identically cut in width , depth, although 3 cm removed left edge of barbara s panel. brand philip noted similarities between panel , dürer s 1514 charcoal drawing portrait of artist s mother @ age of 63. fedja anzelewsky agreed attribution, noting both portraits bear, on reverse, catalogue number recorded in imhoff inventories, precisely same design of masses of dark clouds .

anzelewsky speculated father s portrait, not listed in 1628 imhoff inventory, had been broken off , sold rudolph ii of austria. hans hieronymus imhoff s lukewarm description of barbara s portrait— mother of albrecht dürer in oil colors on wood, [but] there many not believe work of dürer —led brand philip conclude albrecht s panel sold individually more accomplished , marketable of two. attribution accepted today. in 2013 stephan kemperdick noted sophistication of nuremberg portrait , three-dimensional modeling of head displays level of skill beyond wolgemut , circle.

the 2 panels reunited in 2012 during dürer exhibition in nuremberg having been separated since sometime between 1588 , 1628.