Meeting the Unknown: Albrecht Dürer and the Aztecs
Manuel Teget-Welz, Ph.D.
Department of Art History
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
Albrecht Dürer is the most important German Renaissance artist. He had a keen interest in the unknown and traveled a great deal, including to Italy and the Netherlands. Following the cruel conquest of the Aztec Empire by Hérnan Cortés in 1519, the Spanish received numerous gifts from the last Aztec ruler, Moctezuma II. These were sent to Europe to Emperor Charles V and were exhibited in numerous cities. Dürer had the opportunity to see the Aztec objects in Brussels, and wrote in detail about this encounter with the unknown in his diary.
Wednesday, April 3 at 5:15pm, ARTS Seminar Room 333