Der Apostel Philippus

1507–1528 · Workplace

Nuremberg

1520–1521

An illness caught in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands Dürer caught an unknown illness, possibly malaria, whose attacks plagued him for the rest of his life. He drew himself pointing to his spleen, with the note: “Where the yellow spot is, and where I point with my finger, that is where it hurts.”

1520–1521

Meets Patinir, van Orley and Provoost

In the Netherlands Dürer met Bernard van Orley, Jan Provoost, Gerard Horenbout, Jean Mone, Joachim Patinir and Tommaso Vincidor, though apparently not Quentin Matsys.

1525

Publishes the Four Books on Measurement

His Four Books on Measurement (Instructions for Measuring with Compass and Ruler) appeared in Nuremberg, the first book for adults on mathematics in German, later cited by Galileo and Kepler. Dürer wrote in the craftsmen's vernacular rather than in Latin.

6 April 1528

At work on his treatise on proportion to the end

In his last years, his health failing, Dürer devoted himself to his treatises on geometry, the proportions of men and horses, and fortification. He died in Nuremberg aged 56, leaving a considerable estate of 6,874 florins; the Four Books on Human Proportion appeared shortly after his death.

6 April 1528

Died