Dragons, Draculas And Durer
Dragons and knights fascinate us.
Dragons and knights fascinate us.
The Knights Templar were the most famous of the medieval military knight orders connected with the Crusades, whose sudden and violent disappearance continues to fascinate billions of people. Since the 18th century, Freemasonry incorporated Templar symbolism into their rituals, and their legends and secrets have been connected to the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant. Popular novels such as The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol, and Foucaults Pendulum, modern movies as National Treasure and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and video games such as the Assassins Creed and Broken Sword have added fictional embellishments to the Templar story. Every day we can watch some TV show or YouTube video that features the history of the Templars, speculating what happened to them.
About one hundred years after the destruction of the Templars, another knight order became one of the most famous and powerful in all of Europe, the Order of the Dragon (Societas Draconistrarum in Latin, lit. Society of the Dragon). The order was founded in 1408 by Sigismund, King of Hungary (who was born in Nuremberg), later the Holy Roman Emperor, and was organized like the military orders of the Crusades, especially to fight the Ottoman Turks who continually threatened Eastern Europe. The Order of the Dragon flourished during the 15th century, especially in Germany and Italy. In Hungary, the birthplace of Albrecht Drers father, only nobility (from barons upwards) and magnates were allowed to join this order. The Order of the Dragon still exists and many of Europes current royalty belong to it.
This is a replica of the insignia of the Order of the Dragon members wear
Vlad Dracul III the Impaler, commonly known as Dracula, Prince of Wallachia (part of the Kingdom of Hungary) was a member of the Order of the Dragon, and the name Dracula, which means little dragon, is derived from his membership in the Order of the Dragon. Vlads father was initiated into the Order of the Dragon in Nuremberg, Albrecht Drers birthplace, and Vlad III at age 5. From this we can be sure that medieval Nurembergers were very familiar with the Order of the Dragon and would recognize the orders insignia.
So what is the connection between this knight order and Albrecht Drers art? Lets take a look.
Albrecht Drers father, known as Albrecht the Elder, emigrated to the Imperial City of Nuremberg from Atjs, Hungary (now Oradea in Romania), thus we know for sure that Drer was ethnically at least half Hungarian. Atjs, which means door in Hungarian, was translated to Drer, which means door in German, and adopted as the familys surname.
Durers 1490 portrait of his mother Barbara painted in 1490, before he left Nuremberg for his journeyman travels
Durer painter this portrait of his father Albrecht in 1490 before he left Nuremberg for his journeyman travels.
Little is recorded about the life of Albrecht the Elder. The first time he appears in any historical record is 1444 in Nuremberg, where his name is found on a military roster. We do know that he had to have some extremely good political connections, because upon his marriage to his wife Barbara, he was made a Master goldsmith, and was made the official Assayer and Weigher of Silver and Gold, extremely prestigious and powerful positions in Nuremberg society.
When Albrecht the Elder finally acquired his own house in 1475, he purchased in the neighborhood of some of Nurembergs most powerful and richest families, known as Patricians. Think of this as moving into the Kennedys neighborhood or into Trump Tower.
Albrecht the Elder was also appointed to other important city positions and by the 1480s was a shareholder investor in the mine at Goldkronach, owned by the Count of Nuremberg (basically the citys monarch) and the Count of Ansbach-Kulmbach. Later he partnered as shareholder with other Patricians in other mining companies. In a society as class stratified as Nuremberg, Albrecht Drer the Elder could never have come from humble Hungarian roots as the current myth asks us to believe.
In other words, Drers father was one of the 1% of Nuremberg society and probably one of the top 5% richest people in the Holy Roman Empire. Albrecht Drer was not a poor boy that made good.
In 1490, Albrecht painted his mother and fathers marriage coat of arms on the back of the portrait he did of his father before he left Nuremberg for his journeymanship training, which you see here:
Durer painted this alliance coat of arms on the back of the portrait of his father in 1490. An alliance coat of arms combines the arms of the father and mother at marriage. On the right is Barbaras arms, a chamois. It is the only definitive proof of what Barbaras maiden name really was, which was probably not Holper as scholars believe. In the upper left damaged part of the painting is a large dragon figure.
Drer knew that no one would have ever see the back of this painting during his lifetime or his parents lifetime, so he could paint truthful information about his family here. If we take a look at the upper left corner of the Drers coat of arms, there is a large figure of a dragon, although it is difficult to see because the painting was damaged. How do we know its a dragon?
Drers St George Slaying the Dragon woocut. Notice the dragon has no horns.
It does not have horns. In medieval art, the difference between a dragon and a devil was the use of horns on the figure. Dragons were portrayed as serpent-like scaly creatures that rarely flied despite having wings. Devils in art derived from early Pre-Christian goat figures, which is why devils have horns.
Thus, Albrecht is telling us in this painting that his family has some connection with a dragon. Could it be the Hungarian Order of the Dragon? Could Drer be telling us his ancestry was nobility?
Why is this distinction important? Because the animal symbols in the following Drer compositions have been misidentified as devils and are really dragons, and thus the current interpretations as to their meaning are wrong. Lets take a look:
The Four Naked Women. Notice the large dragon head on the left lower side of this print.
This Drer print is currently titled the Four Witches. The animal in the lower left of this print has been interpreted as a devil and thus scholars believe the four naked women are witches. However, when this print was made in 1497, witches in medieval art and printing were not portrayed naked. Since symbolism in medieval art (called iconography) had to be instantly recognizable by the buying customers, it would be nonsensical to believe that these are witches, for no one in the society would interpret them as such. It wasnt until late in the Renaissance that naked witches appeared in art or prints. Actually, one of Drers famous apprentices, Hans Baldung Grien, was one of the first artists who illustrated naked witches.
So if these women are not witches, who are they? And why are they associated with a dragon? Could they be connected with the Hungarian Order of the Dragon?
Lets look at another:
The 1498 Temptation of the Idler. Notice the dragon in the upper part of the print
The animal flying in the air putting a bellows into the mans ear has also been identified as a devil. But once again it does not have horns and therefore its a dragon. Recognizing this animal as a dragon is the first clue to decoding the true meaning of this print. And we must ask again why did Drer represent these three strange figures with a dragon? Are they associated with The Hungarian Order of the Dragon?
Stay tuned for further posts and see if you can find the other symbols in these prints which are clues.
Happy hunting!
by: Yath
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