"You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul."

George Bernard Shaw (playwright)

For over 500 years, Albrecht Dürer’s Young Hare has charmed millions. The tiny hare, publicly displayed at Vienna's Albertina Museum for only a few months every decade, draws hordes of art lovers from around the world.

What makes this little fellow so special? Hint: there’s more than meets the eye.

Albrecht Durer, "Young Hare", 1502, watercolor, 9.8 inches x 8.9 inches, Albertina Museum, Vienna.
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In Dürer's age, mythological and biblical themes were all the rage. Woodland creatures like the humble hare were considered second-class subject matter. Artists only sketched animals when they wanted to brush up on their technique.

Young Hare proves that Dürer, a 16th century German artist, had no problems in the technique department. Poised on its haunches, its ears perky and its paws tense, the animal is strikingly life-like. It seems nervous, ready to leap from the scene at any moment.

Dürer’s hare, with its thick, full coat and disgruntled expression, is more than a well-drawn watercolor. It has something that transcends its flesh and fur and continues to amaze viewers today.

Leonardo da Vinci, "Studies of a Dog’s Paw", 1490 – 1495, metalpoint on paper, National Galleries Scotland, Edinburgh.
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That something is staring us right in the face.

Reflected in the creature’s glassy right pupil, almost too small to notice, is a pair of arched windows.

Detail of the hare’s eye. Two small windows are visible in its pupil.

It's a technique Dürer used in his iconic painting, Self-Portrait with Fur-Trimmed Robe, to represent the eye as a ‘window to the soul’. It's Dürer's claim to have captured the spark of life, the soul, which makes his subject one worth painting.

Through his work, Dürer suggests that a skilled artist can transform any subject, even the mundane hare, into a masterpiece.

Detail of Dürer’s eye in his "Self-Portrait with Fur-Trimmed Robe", 1500, limewood, 26.4 inches x 19.3 inchess, Alte Pinakothek, Munich.

Albrecht Dürer,"Self-Portrait with Fur-Trimmed Robe", 1500, limewood, 26.4 inches x 19.3 inchess, Alte Pinakothek, Munich.
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WRITTEN BY

Jerome Anselme

APPROVED BY

Gérard Marié

Professor of Art History

JULY'S WINNER!

Congratulations un***ej@gmail.com! You won two tickets to a museum exhibition of your choice.

Beginning Monday, the game begins again. Guess six works correctly in August to be entered to win.